The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Knicks Fans Brand Elmo a Traitor & Trump Storms Out of "Meet the Press" Interview | Jane Fonda

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

Elmo lights up the internet by staying neutral about the Knicks-Spurs Finals, Trump storms out of his "Meet the Press" interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, and all the president's lashing out against the press, avoiding rain, and dodging questions has Jon Stewart wondering: Why does the media let Trump's bulls**t slide? Jane Fonda sits down with Jon and reflects on following in the acting and activism footsteps of her father, who was a member of the original Committee for the First Amendment in 1947. Now, 80 years later, Fonda is part of the committee's revival and discusses their upcoming “Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment” in NYC on June 14th, which will extend to over 5,000 livestream viewing parties around the country. They talk about how music and the entertainment industry have always been part of resistance movements and what she’s learned about organizing to make change happen. “We have to become living ambassadors to an irresistible future where everybody will be seen and respected by their government, where everybody feels they’re being taken care of.” -- The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11/10c on Comedy Central. Stream full episodes on Paramount+ Follow TDS: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Some guy's birthday. But first, tonight is game. The excitement in New York is palpable. The New York Knicks are now two wins away from doing something they have not done since Richard Nixon was in office. Was that necessary? The Nixon reference? Oh, the last time the next one, the flu was treated with leeches. No.

I know it's been a long time. Look at me. We're all excited here. Everyone in New York is rooting for the Knicks. Well, uh, almost everyone. abuse that's piling up online for Elmo. After he tried to be neutral about the NBA finals, Sesame Street Star posted, Elmo hopes both teams have fun.

Sesame Street is brought to you by the letter B for Elmo's fellow New Yorkers responded to his wavering with our trademark grace and understanding. New Yorkers didn't like that. They unleashed some fury on him, blasting Elmo as a traitor, telling him to pick aside. the city's transportation department even threatened don't make us take this down, bro. Happy Elmo?

You're going to make the New York Department of Transportation leap into action and take that sign down 10 to 12 years from now. But to get his side of the story, well, let's welcome the Muppet at the center of all this Elmo, everybody, Elmo. I'm just, I'm a little surprised

you're not all in on the Knicks. Did you just say, the over? Series, thus whole. Gamble? This is a lot. High school baseball scores. High school baseball on these apps?

This is stunning to me. This is shot. You need help. But less than two points. How much money did you lose, Elmo? Need a shirt thing. Actually, Elmo, I will be there tonight. Sorry, Elmo, no fucking way.

Taking my son, we're going to the game. We wouldn't miss this for anything in the world. Oh, everybody, Elmo's not going to beat the game, but it is a hot ticket. So much so, even the President of the United States. has Nick's fever. He's dyed his face, Nick's orange, and the back of his hands, Nick's, let's say purple. The president's going to be attending the game this evening, and New Yorkers couldn't be happier. I swear to God, this New York, everybody got up with Trump,

man, I'm not going to let's be a fuck. We're going to boo the f out of you, bro. New York, no matter what your race, color, or creed, well, we all sound just a little Italian. Still, as a New Yorker and a Knicks fan, like the rest of us, he's probably been in a great movement. this weekend because of the series, and he's looking forward to the game. Mr. Press is crooked, and so is ABC and CBS and CNN. But Mr. President. Your one-sided crooked network. So let's call it quits because I've had enough.

Thank you, darling. Have a good time. Mr. President. Holyish, storming out because he didn't like the question now. You could view this as the hissy fit of an incredibly fragile man baby whose paper-thin-skin can't handle venturing out of the sycophantic embrace of his tongue-bathing acolytes. Or, actually, I don't know how else you could hear it.

It really is just that. It's sad, because the interview with Kristen Welker of Meet the Press began as more of a rom-com meetcute. As we're having this conversation, we can hear a little bit of rain. A lot of rain. A lot of rain. Is that wind or what? Nice rain.

If you like Pina colada, of getting caught. The rain is sweet, as long as it's not accompanied by scary sky booms. Hear that sound, that sound of thunder, lightning,

people will understand. We're in a farm. Sure, you're city slickers with your lack of rain and trans weather, whatever you have up there. And by the way, when did Trump go to his stylist

and go, hey, give me the Hugh Grant umpalumpa? Trump was having a lovely time. So how did it go from, look at us, having a wonderful conversation in the rain to fuck you and the network you wrote in on.

Because the interview began like so many other ones for Trump, reasonable question, ridiculous answer. Okay, fine. Is this a war as long as there's a naval blockade in place? Well, we have a blockade. It's been extremely effective and you'll see things like you've never seen.

The oil will go down. The stock market already, as you know, it's at an all-time height. I don't consider that a war, but if you want to define it as such, I guess you can't. Well, how do you define it? I don't define it at all.

I don't think about it. I just do what I have to do. Sure, why not? I believe it was William Tecumseh Sherman, who said, war as hell, I guess. I don't really think about it. Then we get to a moment when the heartland rain-swept rom-com becomes a man trapped in a bar with his worst nightmare.

A woman who won't stop asking pertinent questions. Mr. President, one of your consistent campaign promises was no new wars. What changed because you insisted no new wars? Well, I didn't guarantee no war. Bullshit! Listen! Live through his campaign. Know that he made that kind of a centerpiece. He said this.

Under Trump, we will have no more wars. I'm not going to start war. I'm going to stop wars. Of course, he also said this. I'll keep you out of wars. So, no war. again? We won't have wars again.

But this reporter on this day had the temerity to mention to Donald Trump that, well, actually he did say that all the time. But you said it over and over again. Oh shit. She just lit the fuse on the bullshit bomb. In the midst of the greatest stock market in history, in the midst of the most successful country. Ten! A couple of years ago, we were a day.

dead country. Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. Seven! You know, I gave farmers last term $28 billion because China took advantage and other people. And you know, paid for it, China. Four, three, two! I built a thousand miles of wall on our southern border. The election was rigged. It was a dirty election. Safe. In case of journalism, break glass.

The EpiPen, in case you've been stung by reality. And finally, in this instance, when he went to the rigged election, oh, sweet Jesus, finally, his universal get out of interview card didn't work. You've never presented evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. Right now it's looking, look at what's happening. Where's the evidence to that? Trump's fail safe, failed too safe. And now he's left with but two options.

One, to reckon with the fact that his claims of a 2020 stolen election have never survived even the slightest of legal scrutiny, and that despite having six years and his own Justice Department at his beck and call, he has never presented a shred of credible evidence or even a theory of a credible case as to how this 2020 election was rigged, or he could do his second option, smoke bomb. Let's call it quits because I've had it. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.

Now, we all know Trump's not actually going to leave the building because it's a raining out. And as moisture is the natural enemy of the North American comb over. But this is where Kristen Welker nearly undoes all of the good work she did with one of the worst pleas in the

history of journalism. Mr. President, let's please, I travel all the way to Wisconsin. Can't leave, sir. I was in business class. Mr. President, please, Wisconsin. We have a fortune is on an hour earlier here.

These people are savages. They're Chinese restaurants. Only serve Cejuwon. No Cantonese to be found. We'll all die of consumption. But you know what? Maybe finally this moment will give journalists permission to not back down. To not just leave it there and move on.

And to finally be honest about Trump's inability to be challenged in the moment. I spoke with President Trump on Saturday, and we both acknowledge the complications during the interview posed by the rain. What? You are, is no challenge from the rain? F*** that. No! Donald Trump was not thrown off by the ambient noise during the interview. In fact, ambient farm rain is the least disruptive noise environment. He conducts interviews in. These are real clips of his interviews that we have not edited the audio on at all. Mr. President.

Last one. But still, he wasn't aggravated by the rain. Donald Trump didn't storm out because of the rain. He stormed out because he was challenged, not because he was distracted. So maybe it's time we stop making excuses for that man in order to preserve access to his constant bullshit. He agreed to sit down with me for another meet the press interview. Thank you. There you go.

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It's so, so lovely. I have not met you before, and it's, it's a very lovely. a pleasure and an honor. Thank you for being here. It's an honor for me too. I've never been on the show. Thank you for having you. Oh, wonderful. Tell me about this concert. This is going to be great. What is this about? This is for the First Amendment. It's, yes, it's about, and we're doing it at this historic town hall. What was that, like 44 or something like that? Sixth Avenue, somewhere. Somewhere. It's on Broadway. There you go. It's considered Broadway. It is considered Broadway. Long history. You've made it. I've finally.

Well done. Patty Smith, Rufus Wainwright, Bet Midler. Fantastic. We have, not only is it going on in the theater, but we have thousands of, I think, over 5,000 registered viewing parties around the country in red states and purple states and blue states. So like a simulcast? It's going to go out at the same time?

Yes. Yes, and then when they register for a viewing party, they get song sheets, so it's a sing-along. And, you know, music has always been part of movements, of resistance movements, a civil rights movement. I mean, all the way back in the... You know, what else has always been a part of some great movements? Jane Fonda. You've been doing this a long time. You've been...

Vietnam, no nukes, LGBTQ rights. I mean, issue after issue, you've stepped up. You know, I was about, I think I was about 33 when I became an activist in 1970. And before then, I wasn't involved in anything. I was kind of hedonistic. You know, I kind of knew if I really get involved, my life is going to change. And I kind of stayed away. It was American soldiers that got me to understand the Vietnam War, and my whole life changed.

And then, because I lived in France, I moved back here, and because it was soldiers that had opened my eyes, I became part of the GI movement. But it was the people that I met. They were different than people I had ever met before. I'd always been, I'd grown up in a world where everybody was judged how you looked. Are you thin enough? Are you this enough? Are you? Oh, God, there was so much pressure. And suddenly it was like, what kind of a person are you? It wasn't like what you looked like.

It was like looking through a keyhole at the world we were fighting for. And so we're the create, the entertainment industry writ large, we create the dreams, we write the stories. We can show people, we can make them feel across differences and we can show them how it could be. There's an alternative. This is not inevitable what we're going through right now.

Entertainers, well, you know, you're being attacked. Comics first because tyranny and comics don't go together. You're the ones that can point out there's no clothes and all that kind of thing. Yeah. So comics go first, you know. Wait, what? I thought, wait, how did I get involved in this? I'm out first?

Son of a bitch. But what was so great is that when Kimmel, when they said that Kimmel was going to be taken off the air, and millions of Americans canceled, their Disney subscriptions are threatened to cancel. Yes, entirely. So this is, it's called non-cooperation, and that's what we have to do.

Non-cooperation. The Committee for the First Amendment, it existed before, we want to organize the entertainment, industry to not cooperate with what's happening because our democracy is being destroyed. Our rights are being taken away. Tell me about the perspective on that because you bring up an interesting point. This committee existed in the past and it really was in the 50s. Was it not the House on Americans activities?

It was created. It was called the Committee for the First Amendment. Hollywood strikes back in 1947 against the House on American Activities. My dad was a member. That's how I knew about it. Fantastic. And then, yeah, I'm my dad's daughter. It just took me a while.

It's such an interesting thing. Did you, do you recall watching him go through standing up for things and being criticized? Did that make you fearful of that? What was it your experience with him? When I stood up finally, it made him fearful. He was worried. Really? For you?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you took. He'd seen, he'd seen, you know, careers and lives. Right. And it's happening now. But the, I don't know if people are aware enough about what's happening. You know, books are being banned.

The funding of arts councils are being taken away. Television shows where there's a black wife of this guy. No, no, no, you can't do that. Cancel it. No, you can't have an LGBTQ. You know, they're just being canceled. Yeah. It's almost like people are acquiescing to it because if you're, I think what the government

understands is corporations don't want friction. They basically, they don't have any moral stand to take on it. They just don't want the friction. And so if people can create friction to the corporation, then they'll listen to them. But for now, they're just fearful of the government. Well, what's happening in the entertainment industry, people who got rich, guys who got rich on other kinds of businesses are trying to take over the entertainment. entertainment industry and and bend it to, you know, bring us to our knees so that we will support what they're doing. And they're taking away our rights, are the stories that are nuanced and complicated and represent diversity. You're talking about the mergers and such.

I'm talking about the mergers. They're canceling things. Right. The people who own. They're trying to control a business that they didn't even build up, you know. They're just coming out from some greedy place to try to control us. Well, that's all the time we have for tonight. It's probably a good idea they're doing that. But listen, people... What are you trying to pull here? Either come to the town hall on June 14th.

Yeah. When we're going to do the music that gets people to rise up and speak out. You know, now is the time. This is the time, guys. In your experience, and I ask you, and I think people are really Thursday. before. And if they can't actually come to the play, they can register and view it at home and have a house party. And will you be mailed out gummies and you can watch it for that. In your experience for this, have you learned lessons of what effective activism looks like, what less effective

activism? Were there certain movements that you were really appreciative of how they went about, whether it was the no-nukes movement you were involved in or Vietnam? What can you tell people about the most effective ways to get involved and how you've seen that play out over time. Listen to people talk. You know, young people, because they have these phones now, they can get thousands of people to come out overnight. That's not organizing.

Organizing takes time. You have to talk to people. You have to understand where they're coming from. You have to, I don't know. I think we have to become living ambassadors to an irresistible future where everybody will be seen and respected by their government, where everybody feels taking forward.

You know what? Can I tell you something crazy? Huh? Can I tell you something crazy? I believe you. Like, watching this animate you, watching your passion for it, you seem positive. You seem like you really believe this can change and go in the right direction. This is not something you play at. You believe it in your soul, it appears.

Yeah, we're going to move the needle. We've changed them. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. And so, you know, one of the most important things is community. This is what we've learned from Minneapolis, right? Right.

People to stay together. They take care of each other. You have to know your neighbor. You have to be willing to take care of people who are hurting. You know, I know it's called woke. It's so beautiful. It means you've got a big heart. It means that you care.

It means you're an upstander, not a bystander, who kind of just walks fast when you see somebody that hurts. You know, I am not a religious person, and yet I really feel like saying amen right now. I don't know why. I'm not even sure I know what it means. Say it. Amen. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Now, are you going to get up there and do?

Amen. If I may, I didn't need all that. It's exciting, though. And right now, is it the First Amendment stuff that's really animating what you're moving towards? It's the bedrock of it all. The bedrock of our democracy. And especially as artists, we can't function if we don't have freedom of expression, all of the freedoms that we've been guaranteed in our Constitution.

And journalists as well. They need to be able to stand up through it. Yeah. And journalists are part of the Committee for the First Amendment. When did you reanimate this? When did this? October 1st. You just started that.

Yeah. You already booked Town Hall. Yeah. No, we, oh, and we had a big thing in front of the Kennedy Center. I mean, we're changing the zeitgeist. His name came off today. You see how thirsty they are? His name came off a building.

Yeah, but he put it on 20 others. This guy is... People are thirsty. What can we do? That's what it is. People are thirsty for it. And I just, I commend you for the passion that you bring to it. It's fun.

The dedication that you bring to it. The resilience. Where can people go to get art? I'm assuming this is probably sold out. So just have them go and register. Is that the idea? Well, then you can watch you at home, or you could have a viewing party, and you get songbooks, and you can sing along,

and you get calls to action. Yeah. All those great things. Well, Jane Fonda, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you and to just be swept up in your enthusiasm and your passion. Thank you. It's good to meet you finally. I know.

We've been having a minute for that. Thank you. 14. Rise up and singout.com. BetMGM, an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League, has everything you need for 2026 Stanley Cup playoff action. Hockey fans in Canada can place live bets every game during the quest for the cup. Create same game parlays, take player props,

and place futures on the 26 Stanley Cup champion. Check out BetMGM original bets. Hockey markets you can't find anywhere else. And it's not just about what you can do on game day. The BetMGM app has improved its first line this season to include, Include instant withdrawals. Download the BetMGM app and enjoy the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs like never before. Betmgmgm.com for terms and conditions.

19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have any questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531-260 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. BetMGM, an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League, has everything you need for 2026 Stanley Cup playoff action.

Hockey fans in Canada can place live bets every game during the quest for the cup. Create same game parlays, take player props, and place futures on the 26 Stanley Cup champion. Check out BetMGM original bets, hockey markets you can't find anywhere else. And it's not just about what you can do on game day. The BetMGM app has improved its first. line this season to include insid withdrawals.

Download the BetMGM app and enjoy the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs like never before. Betmgm.com for terms and conditions. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have any questions or concerns

about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531-2-600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. Where we go. Let's check in with your host

for the rest of the week, Desi Lydic. Dezzy! Dezzy, what are you going to be covering this week? Well, John, the World Cup kicks off this week, and America has World Cup fever. Absolutely. It is fantastic. Very exciting.

Very exciting. No. No, John. Not exciting. No, it's a hemorrhagic fever and highly contagious. No, it's basically Ebola, but you can only get it with your feet. That is, that's, that sounds scary.

I hope they get it contained. Yes, yes, containment and eradication. That is the goal. What is the cheapest price for the game three are going to is $8,000. Well, I know, but they can watch it on television. It's sort of semi-free to watch it on television, but it's the way life goes. 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. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.