The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Mike Waltz Leaves the Group Chat & Trump’s Town Hall Gets Racist | Sen. Elissa Slotkin

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

Michael Kosta continues TDS coverage of Trump’s 100th day in office with reports from NewsNation’s town hall, where the president racially slighted Stephen A. Smith, as well as details on Mike Waltz’s exit and subsequent United Nations promotion, and Pam Bondi’s ridiculous claims about fentanyl deaths. With anxiety-inducing news cycles and Trump Derangement Syndrome on the rise, it’s easy to feel helpless with the current administration. But in these times of despair and uncertainty, the Hang In There poster will take all your Trump-related anxieties away! The perfect comforting distraction in these disturbing political times. Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, the youngest Democratic female serving in the U.S. Senate, joins Michael Kosta to share her perspective on the current state of national security and the Democratic agenda moving forward. The senator explains why voters are looking for Democrats with alpha energy (“You don’t have to be a male to [have] alpha energy,” she says), how President Trump’s tariff policy is “slow-rolling us into a recession,” responsible vs. reckless change, and the importance of tuning in during challenging times.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 Michael Kosta. There's a lot going on in MAGA world tonight. Pam Bondi wins the war on drugs and reality. Mike Waltz has left the group chat and Trump thinks Stephen A Smith is the mayor of Harlem. So let's get into our ongoing coverage of Donald Trump's first 100 days.

A little disturbance. Trump Tuesday was Donald Trump's 100th day in office and he celebrated the only way he knows how by getting together with the boys. Last night the big party was at Channel 372 on your cable service. News Nation. We've just gotten started. You haven't even seen anything yet. Rock out with your c*** out, huh? Which is actually how most of those people got fired from their previous jobs.

This was an event where Donald Trump phoned in, probably from the bathroom, and a bunch of people got to ask questions, including Stephen A. Smith. And there's a thing I've noticed that happens at parties where there's only one black guy, which is that no matter what he's talking about, a certain type of white person tries to steer the conversation into an awkward direction. Mr. President, thank you for your time. It's interesting that you brought up Harvard because when people think about

Harvard what they're basically talking about is that they ask and what do you say to those who view your actions as an attack on academic freedom rather than a defense of fairness what do you say to that. Well I say this we had riots riots in Harlem. In Harlem. Amazing. Amazing. Trump heard a black man say Harvard,

and he thought he must have meant Harlem. What a beautiful mix of racism and dementia. It sounded like you asked about Social Security, but I'm gonna assume you really asked about Soul Plane. No. Not a great start, but maybe Donald Trump, maybe he can save it. We had riots in Harlem, in Harlem, and frankly, if you look at what's gone on, and people from Harlem went up and they protested, Stephen, and they protested very strongly against Harvard.

No, he didn't save it. He didn't save it. What is he talking about exactly? protested very strongly against Harvard. No, he didn't say that. What is he talking about exactly? There were no riots in Harlem. They definitely didn't go from the non-riots to protest Harvard. And none of that had anything to do with Stephen A's question about academic freedom.

It's almost like he's talking about black stuff, because Stephen A Smith is black. You know, I got a very high black vote. You know that. Very, very high black vote. I'm starting to think that maybe Trump shouldn't be choosing the curriculum for the smartest college in the world. The answer was so dumbfounding that Stephen A, who is a professional interrupter, was left speechless for the first time in his life. By the way, this is not even the weirdest Stephen A. Smith moment from this week,

because apparently the guy had a cameo on General Hospital a few days ago, and here's really the only moment you need to see. ["The Last Supper"] See. Sorry to interrupt. I'm gonna need to see some ID. Of course. Goddamn.

Is that what happens when you don't have your ID? Man, things sure have changed. We used to clap for nurses every day and now we quick draw them with a silencer. I had no idea that Stephen A. Smith even acted in soap operas, but now I can't wait to tune in next week to find out if he has an evil twin, Stephen B. Smith. I guess I got to start watching General Hospital, or as Trump calls it, General Harlem. But let's move on, because not everyone

is having fun during this Celebration Week. We begin with breaking news. Sources are confirming to Fox News that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is out. Waltz has been in a precarious position with the president actor. He accidentally added a reporter to a group chat about upcoming military strikes. Damn, what a shame for Mike Waltz. I wonder how they delivered the news.

That's ice cold. You know what? You know what? You can't jeopardize military missions by adding journalists to your group chats. And to Donald Trump's credit, he realizes he can't have a guy this incompetent working for his administration. He's got to go. This is CNN breaking news. President Trump just announcing moments ago that he will be nominating his current national

security adviser Michael waltz to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Like I was saying, he's got to go to the United Nations to represent the entire country on a global stage. Congrats, Mike. You've earned it. I guess. But look, I don't know. This seems like pure chaos to me,

but I'm sure this administration has been carefully planning the whole reorganization for days, as the State Department spokesperson will make clear here. The president has just written on Truth Social that Mike Waltz is gonna become the new US ambassador to the United Nations. Well, there you go.

Fabulous. And in addition to that United Nations. Well, there you go. Fabulous. And in addition to that, he says that in the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as national security advisor while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department. Do you know how long he's going to be serving in both roles? It is clear that I just heard this from you. You know what?

Why don't you come up here and I'll ask you some questions, okay? By the way, if it sounds crazy that Marco Rubio has two separate jobs, that's actually only half of his jobs. Marco Rubio is very busy right now. Our own David Grorah reminding us that he's right now Secretary of State, Interim National Security Advisor, Acting Administrator of USAID, and also Acting Archivist for the United States. That's a lot of work. Those are a lot of jobs. Yeah. And I don't know how you balance working four jobs all at the same time, but I'm going to guess it probably involves doing a shitty job. And he's actually working five jobs

when you consider the hardest job of them all, which is being a father. Which reminds me... Honey, you're gonna have to put the kids to bed tonight because I'm gonna go get drunk at Dave and Buster's. But amazingly, Trump hasn't been firing administration officials all that much because, partly, most of them have really learned a lesson about staying on his good side.

Let me show you how bad it can get. Three days ago, Pam Bondi was on Fox News making an outrageous claim about Trump's success stopping fentanyl deaths. Since Donald Trump has been in office, DEA has seized over 21 million fentanyl pills. That's 21 million lives saved, in my opinion. 21 million people. 21 million people. Just for context, 70,000 people die from fentanyl

in an entire year. But we're supposed to believe that in three months, Trump prevented 21 million fentanyl deaths. I guess a lot more people were planning to try fentanyl this year, huh? Were you guys? Because if everyone's do it, I'll do it. I'm not a pussy.

All right. This audience is pro-fentanyl. Now, to be fair to Bondi, she must have realized these numbers were way off because two days later, she correct herself. Since he's been in office, DEA has taken 22.2 million fentanyl pills off the streets.

This is 119 million lives Donald Trump has saved since January. Pretty remarkable. Oh, my God! 119 million? He saved 100 more million lives in two days? Wow. Keep in mind, keep in mind, the entire population of the United States is 340 million. So she's crediting Trump with saving the lives of a third of the entire country.

Pam, what are you talking about? Are you on the front? Because you signed high, you sound high as f*** right now, okay? Alright, but you know what bondi sobered up she checked her math she realized something was off again. Because during Trump's cabinet meeting yesterday she came back and corrected herself one more time.

President Trump your DOJ agencies have seized more than 22 million fentanyl pills which say be ready for this media, 258 million lives. 258! 258 million lives, what is happening here? At the rate Trump is saving lives, death will cease to exist by August.

Man, you gotta love the way she turns to the camera like, are you ready for this media? No, no, we weren't ready for that. We were not ready. There is no way anybody could ever have been ready for the number you were about to say. Even JD Vance wasn't ready. Look at his face when he hears her say that shit.

Are you ready for this media? 258 million lives. Kids are dying every day. I've never seen a man blink. What the f*** is this woman talking about? But of course he knows it's bullshit. He went to Yale, right? It's no Harlem University, but they know math.

The point is, the point is, by the time we're done with the next hundred days, Trump will have saved it, and are you ready for this media? 347 bajillion lives. Which if you ask me, Yeah, 340 bajillion lives, which you've asked me is too many lives. Is there anyone we can call to thin the herd? But we come back, we'll show you the one product

that can help you get through the next four years. Don't forget where you are. Welcome back to the show. If you're not a fan of Donald Trump, it's probably because you disagree with his policies, maybe you're pro-choice or support expanding renewable energy, or maybe because you have a mental illness. So there's this condition called Trump Derangement Syndrome, and every single Democrat has this. Trump Derangement Syndrome, anything with Trump's name attached to it, Democrats will automatically

pre-hate no matter what it is. Trump Derangement Syndrome is stage five, no vaccine, no cure, no therapeutic. It's a horrible, horrible terminal disease. It destroys the mind before the body, but the body eventually goes. Yeah, that's right. That's right.

Trump Derangement syndrome, the only disease Trump can give you that doesn't require you to notify recent sex partners. Of course, in reality, Trump derangement syndrome is a fake mental illness coined by right-wing trolls on social media, but that's about to change. Republican lawmakers in Minnesota want to, here in the state, add Trump derangement syndrome as an official mental illness. The bill aims to change our state's definition of mental

illness to include a form of criticism of the current president. Yeah, so 5 GOP senators in Minnesota want to codify Trump derangement syndrome into state law and look I can already hear all the woke libs out there whining about this Minnesota bill let me just say is this bill perfect now is the disease totally made up yes is this a huge waste of time and taxpayer money yes did one of the Republicans behind the bill

just get arrested for soliciting a 17 year-old for prostitution. Well as they say in Minnesota, oh, I betcha, officer. But still, you have to admit that these past 100 days have caused very real stress for a large percentage of Americans. And if that sounds like you, well, luckily, there's a time-tested product out there to help you deal with it.

After President Trump's first 100 days, a dramatic escalation of President Trump's illegal immigration crackdown. Safety concerns growing after another plane crash here in the U.S. The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it. Many people are scared of what's to come.

The stock market and our economy are in a volatile freefall and free speech is under attack. You've tried everything to ease your mind, from booze to pills and even other booze, but nothing seems to work. That's why in these times of despair and uncertainty, you need the Hang In There poster. This uplifting poster of strength and hope features an adorable cat hanging from a rope. With the timeless slogan, Hang In There printed on the bottom. The Hang In There poster is the cute and comforting distraction we all need in times of political upheaval. Plus, the Hang In There poster goes where you go, meaning

joy and comfort are just a glance away. So the next time you're worried about people losing their rights, or the staggering amount of government corruption we're about to witness in the next four years, don't fret. Just hang in there. To order your official Hang In There poster, call 1-800-HANG-ME. Call now and we'll throw in a second Hang In There poster, absolutely free, for an additional $29.95. Call 1-800-HANG-ME now.

When we come back, Senator Alissa Slack will be joining me on the show. Stick around. Hang around. Hang in there. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Welcome back to The Other Show. My guest tonight is the junior U.S. senator from Michigan. Please welcome Senator Alyssa Slotkin. MUSIC Senator. Yes. Senator Slotkin, that sounds nice.

You know, it's pretty good. Feels good. You speak Arabic, you speak Swahili, you speak English. How would you like me to conduct this interview? English would be fantastic. English would be great. Okay. So some big news today.

Mike Waltz is out. Yeah. You are, and I don't say this very often, a Democrat with an impressive national security background, working in the CIA, security debriefing Obama every morning, working at the Pentagon. How worried should we be now? Pete Hegseth? Is Pete Hegseth? He is.

He is Pete Hegseth. What's your take on how we are right now? I mean, you know, I don't think anyone feels great about where we are right now. I don't feel like... This is Marco Rubio's fourth job now. Yeah, he has four jobs now. And I think that the truth is, like,

there are some really serious international challenges, and we just can't have the B team in here. We need serious people. And I think that Pete Hegseth should resign and is just not where we need to be on it. Trump was just in Michigan for his 100th day you won the in Michigan on the same What do Michigan voters want you think Well, Michigan errs are very independently minded people as you know, and I think I'm a Michigan. Yes He's a miscander and very proud of him, right? This is well, I'm to tell these Costals, this is the shape of Michigan.

Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I think, so we're independently minded, but I think the two things that really came through in the last election was, one, it was a pocketbook election, right? People wanted someone who was going to put more money in their pocket.

And then number two, if I can be frank, is a little harder to grab onto. It's like, people are looking for a little alpha energy. And I think I had a little bit more alpha energy than the average Dem. And I want us to get more alpha energy. OK. OK.

And this comes from my wife. What is alpha energy? Yeah. I just think, well, okay, you're a midwesterner. And let me explain for those who are not midwesterners, like think of who we identify with as like our big leaders, right? Right now, most popular man in Michigan is the coach of the Lions, right? Dan Campbell and go Lions.

And he is just, but he like, he loves big, he's tough with people, but he like well hug you and give you know in cries eyes out with his guys do great like we want leadership right we're in a moment of crisis in the country and a moment of change as well and so we want leaders who can like lead us through and light the tunnel so that we can get through this moment of our history and that is like not a quiet home dip in you know that is, like, not a quiet, calm, diplomat. You know, that is like, let's go.

And I think that is what Michiganders are looking for in their leaders in the state, but also across the country. People are responding very well to that. You know, my daughter finished a puzzle the other day. She's 5, and I gave her this big hug, and I was crying. And she was like, Dad, Dad, I love this alpha male energy right now. You've said adopt the alpha energy, but you've also said that the Dems,

there's a perception of the party as weak and woke. It's actually what Michigander said. They was a poll in February. And those were the words identified most with the democratic brand. Yes. And I think that, you know, again, I don't think it's just Trump voters who want something different. I think our government is a 20th century government and we're in the 21st century. It needs to change. No one loves our health care.

No one loves how we do education. No one loves how our government works. So we need to change it, but we want responsible change, not reckless change, not just breaking stuff to break stuff. Yeah. And... But... I think we need to hear that, and I think that Michiganders understand that, like,

we can't stay the same, we can't look backwards, we have to look forward, but we want to know who that is. And I think the Democratic Party should be leading instead of just saying, no, no, no, status quo, status quo, don't change. No, embrace change, but put your marker down on what you think should happen. Talk about how we need a stronger middle class

in this country, because it's shrinking. It is. Don't try to hide it. It is. So to me, that's the vision piece. And then because I'm from the national security world, at the Pentagon, you don't go to the bathroom without a plan. You're constantly planning.

That's what I've been doing wrong all these years. So I think Democrats need a plan. And I've been in the Senate for 112 or 15 days. And I got tired of waiting for someone else to do it. So I just wrote a war plan, decamped with a bunch of my closest friends and advisors, and wrote our best stab at what we should be doing as a country to push back on the threats to our economy and our democracy.

I love that. As a Michigander, I worry maybe that you are feeling a burden of a democratic national message when you're a junior senator representing Michigan. Are you, I mean, are you Michigan first at this point? Yes? Well, I mean, yeah. Look, I got the chance to give the response to the State of the Union, and I made a choice to do that from Michigan.

Because if I could give a speech that could work in Michigan and not turn me into a Saturday Night Live skit, then I thought it would work for the country. Like, Michigan, I think, is a good bellwether, a good canary in the coal mine on what's going on, particularly on our economy right now. And so what all I can do is, like, take the lessons every single day from what is going on, no shit, no kidding, in my state,

and then sort of express to people that I'm gonna go fight for them and fight for my state, and that means a good thing for us but a good thing for the country, too. Donald Trump spoke for... Um... ...Donald Trump spoke for... Um... Um... Donald Trump spoke for an hour and 40 minutes that night.

You spoke for 10 minutes. And I think you said more than him, actually. Um, but... I want to... I want to get back a little bit to this woke word. Because it's not like Harris and Walls were out there saying they were woke. No one was campaigning they were woke. The Republicans effectively targeted the Dems as woke.

And I wonder if some of this alpha male energy you're talking about. And you say alpha male. I'm adding the male because that's who I hope I am. It's your dude. Yeah. But it's alpha. Excuse me. You don't have to be a male to be alpha energy.

Correct. And thank you for correcting. Yes. Thank you very much. Thank to be alpha energy. Correct. And thank you for correcting me. Thank you for correcting me. Is taking back how, you're not allowed to label me. I will tell you what I am and who we are. And I wonder if the Dems can do that effectively. Well that's what we have to do. I think there's no choice.

And I think you're right that the attack ads and framing your enemy, your adversary, is what happens in political campaigns. But like, suck it up, buttercup, we gotta turn that around, right? You can't just let someone else define you. You have to say what you're about, not just what you're against.

And I think Democrats, what Trump is doing is unprecedented. And so we're on our heels, we're trying to figure out where to look first. So we gotta understand that we have to have a plan to know where we're going as a group, right? And stop turning our guns on each other as Democrats, right? Can we all agree that that, where the adversary is in this situation? So you know I think that is what we owe to the American people actually. I loved when your rebuttal was from...

Your rebuttal was from Wyandotte, Michigan. And as a Michigander I was like oh my god Wyandotte this is where people are actually building the cars. They're pressing the steel. And I thought I was curious to ask you what's the response there with the tariffs. Yeah I mean you're really in it and these are this is the this is America's car center. Yeah well Michigan I think is like uniquely positioned to be extremely vulnerable to these tariffs one because our manufacturing sector and how we've been working for a long time to build our supply chains with Canada, our neighbor, and then also our farming industry, right, who gets all the

retaliation. What we're seeing right now is like peak uncertainty. People are just feeling like COVID times, like I don't know what to do. Do I invest? Do I not invest? Do I build that factory? Do I not build that factory? Do I expand? Do I make those orders? And right now the first sort of like tip-off we're seeing is cut down in like orders. So trucking is down, right? The number of hours our truck drivers are driving are going down.

And I think that's just the start of this. And, you know, if you're lucky enough to be a bigger business, you can go cut a deal with the White House, right? He's created this unbelievable marketplace of like, every country has to come to me, every industry. But if you're the small guy, the small business owner, the guy who owns the supermarket in my town, no one's cutting him a deal and he's at risk of going under. So he's slow rolling us into a recession and we need to be clear about that because he

promised he was going to put more money in people's pockets. It's the opposite. It's the opposite. The UAW's has backed the tariffs is that am I reading that correct. I think I think I would let them speak for themselves, but I think they're either going to be really right or really wrong right and and I just don't have faith that there's some Wizard of Oz behind Donald Trump

coming up with a grand plan that's gonna make this all work. All I see every day is people are paying more for goods, no plan on housing, more for energy. I mean, more, more, more, more, more. So if you're the guy who said you were gonna actually bring money into their pockets, instead he's making you pay in every part of your life. Correct, yes, and yes.

It's weird to clap for that. Well, this audience just keeps clapping over and over again. But they don't. In your rebuttal, I love this. I want to make sure I get it right. You said, don't tune out. It's easy to be exhausted, but America needs you now more than ever. Pick one issue you're passionate about and engage. And doom

scrolling doesn't count. The reason that connected with me was it feels so overwhelming. What do I respond to? What can I do? But the pick one issue is a nice action plan. Yeah. I think, look, I think part of what I worked on in this kind of war plan is if you're an activated person and you want to do something, do one of two things. Either go deep, particularly on an issue of democracy and corruption, because every single day he is threatening our democracy

and he is milking the cow of America as a full-time job, right? Or go deep on the things that really affect people's pocketbooks, right? So the economy, social security, health care, you know, VA benefits. So one of those two categories are, to me, the place where people should go deep. And you can't tune out. It feels comforting to stop reading the news and not be engaged.

But I will just tell you, as I'm the youngest Democratic female senator right now, and I wouldn't be here... Quora! ...quora! Yeah. Yeah. I just have to say, like, if previous generations had given up and been like,

you know, it's really hard right now. Like, think of the women who fought for 100 years to allow me to get to this spot. Like, we don't have the right to tune out when previous generations fought and fought and fought. So, I'm happy with that. Look... If you tuned out after the election for a week, okay.

Time to tune back in. Shit's getting real. So, Senator Elissa Slotkin, thank you very much for being here. We're gonna take tune back in. Shit's getting real. So Senator Alyssa Slockin, thank you very much for being here. We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back after this. Thank you very much, I appreciate it so much. 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. Now here it is, your moment of zen. Donald Trump's first 100 days can be defined by one big F word, failure. 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.