The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Pete Hegseth Grilled in Senate Hearing, Boyd Holbrook on Playing Johnny Cash

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

Jordan Klepper recaps Pete Hegseth's contentious Senate confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense. Desi Lydic teaches Jordan Klepper a lesson on digging too deeply into Trump's cabinet selects. Plus, a new Daily Showography | Pete Hegseth: Overserved with Honor. Actor Boyd Holbrook sits down with Jordan Klepper to talk about his experience playing Johnny Cash in the new film, “A Complete Unknown.” They discuss working with director James Mangold on the legacy of playing Johnny Cash, Cash’s letters to Bob Dylan on the back of airplane barf bags, the pressures of portraying a real person on film, and how Christian Bale threw him a bone early in his career.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 with your I'm Jordan Clapper. We got a big show tonight. Congress is super horny. Republicans pretend to vet Trump's cabinet, and we get mixology tips from Pete Hegseth. So let's get into another installment of Trump 2.0 coming for the White House.

-♪ I'm gonna come. Laughter I truly hate that. So, Donald Trump becomes president on Monday, and that means... I know. I hate Mondays, too.

But it means we're invading Greenland on Tuesday, so we got to decide who is going to lead the armada, which is why today the Senate held its first confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for defense secretary and dude who makes sure everyone at the frat house has their story straight. Now, since he was nominated a couple months ago,

we found out a lot about Hegseth, and most of it does not inspire confidence. He's been accused of sexual assault. He was accused of nearly running a veterans group into the ground, and he has a documented history of excessive drinking, which we learned even more about today. A Hegseth acquaintance describes a breakfast they had

with Hegseth in the spring of 2023. We met at Fox News in New York for breakfast, and he suggested we go across the street to a bar. It was like 10 in the morning. Then he ordered two gin and tonics at the same time for himself. Then he had a third gin and tonic. Whoa! Whoa!

Whoa, Hexette that's rolling up to breakfast like, I'll have the steel-cut oatmeal and three gin and tonics, please. You know what they say, beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before liquor, I'll have another liquor. This definitely raises some questions for the person you may want to put in charge of the nukes.

So let's jump into today's confirmation hearing. And you know what? I'm not saying he showed up drunk, but it did start at 10 a.m. So how about we start with a quick sobriety test? You know, something simple. Pete, how about name your kids? Our seven wonderful kids. Gunner, Jackson, Peter Boone, Kensington, Luke, J-Rex. Sorry. That's a lot of them.

And Gwendolyn. Okay. Little tipsy, okay. Big deal. All right. No biggie. My dad was always mixing up me and my siblings' names, and he launched perfectly successful, counter-offensive, rapid-deployment, amphibious incursions into Iran all the time.

Although Pete probably should have given his kids names he could remember more easily. Maybe, like, Don Julio, Jim Beam, Johnny Walker, Jose Cuervo, and don't forget little Michael Hard Lemonade. Anyway, now that that's over, it's time for the grilling. Republicans, I know he's your guy, but I also know you love the military,

so I'm sure you've got some hard questions for the man who wants to run it. Why do you want to do this job? What drives you? Tell me something about your wife that you love. How many push-ups can you do? Huh. Laughter

Follow-up question, sir. I have this jar. Could a big, strong man like yourself open it? Laughter Okay, okay. But Democrats made up for those softballs with a couple pitches that were really high and inside.

I assume that in each of your weddings you've pledged to be faithful to your wife. You've taken an oath to do that, haven't you? You've admitted that you had sex at that hotel on October 2017 and you were still married and you just had a child by another woman. How do you explain your judgment? You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife married and you just had a child by another woman. Again. How do you explain your judgment, Larry? You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two after you just had fathered a child by wife three. But you didn't reveal any of this to President Trump.

Why didn't you inform the commander in chief of the transition team of this very relevant event? Oh, damn! Tim Kaine went full Maury Povich out there, huh? Wow! Wow! Tim Povich! Oh, come on, Tim. Come on. You're asking why didn't Hegseth tell Trump

about how many times he cheated on his wife? Maybe because if he did, Trump would high-fi him so hard it would break both their hands. Okay, that was a pretty wild line of questioning from Tim Kaine. Any Republican want to jump to his defense here? How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? And then how many senators do you know

have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No. But it's for show. You guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy because the man's made a mistake. And you want to sit there and say that he's not qualified? Give me a joke.

Give me a joke. Okay, okay. How about a priest? Give me a joke. Give me a joke. Okay, okay. A priest, a rabbi, Pete Hegseth. Walk into a bar at 10 a.m. Are you happy now, Mark Wayne? I don't know if this was really the defense that Hegseth wanted, though.

Look, we're all pieces of shit here! Let he without an Ashley Madison premium account cast the first stone! I'll tell you who else probably didn't appreciate that defense, the other senators. They probably got home and their wives were like, I saw Mark Wayne at the confirmation hearing today. He said that everyone in the Senate cheats on their wives. The wives were like, uh, I saw Mark Wayne at the confirmation hearing today.

He said that everyone in the Senate cheats on their wives. Honey, honey, you can't trust Mark Wayne. He's confused. The man has two first names pushed together. It's insanity. Okay, but after that, they did, in fact, get into Hegset's policy positions. And there was one in particular policy

that had people very worked up. You previously have made a series of inflammatory statements about women in combat. In a recent podcast, you said, quote, I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. You say we need moms, but not in the military, especially in combat units.

What's wrong with a mom, by the way? Once you have babies, you therefore are no long able to be lethal? Yeah! Are you saying moms can't be lethal? Does the name Casey Anthony mean nothing to you? Oh! So, yes.

Hexas has a long record of insisting that women have no place in combat. And you know what? I'm sorry, Libs, but that's just the way Pete is. Maybe he's not good at leadership or management or money or vows or driving home past 10 a.m. But the one thing he does is stand his ground. Tell him, Pete, no women in combat roles. Let's make it very clear for everyone here today.

As Secretary of Defense, will you support women continuing to have the opportunity to serve in combat roles? Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles. women will have access to ground combat roles. From Washington, D.C., the flash apparently official, at 1125 Standard Time, Pete Hegseth went woke. You know, perhaps the most damning comment about Pete Hegseth came from Pete Hegseth himself when he was explaining what the military needs

in its leadership. The DEI policies of today are not putting meritocracy first. Every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy. Getting anything that doesn't contribute to meritocracy out of how decisions are made inside the Pentagon, ensuring readiness and meritocracy is front and center. Meritocracy, meritocracy, meritocracy.

Oh, I know what his next kid's gonna be named. Uh... You heard him, though. You heard him, folks. A military cannot function unless it's staffed by a system based on pure merit, where only the most qualified people rise to the top. So says your next secretary of defense, who will run the most complicated, powerful,

deadly organization the world has ever known and whose only qualification is that Trump liked watching him sit on a couch on Saturday mornings. But... But... But listening to Republicans today, it seems like that's going to be enough to get them confirmed. I just want to say, for all the talk of experience and not coming from the same cocktail parties

that permanent Washington is used to, you are a breath of fresh air. Well, that's not what the breathalyzer said, but... But okay. For more on Pete Haixett's series, we go live to the Capitol with Desi Lydic. Desi. Desi. We! Desi.

We know Hegseth apparently has a history of being drunk and abusive and corrupt. What else has your reporting uncovered? Uh, I didn't do any reporting, Jordan. Back to you. Uh, what do you mean? There's got to be more shady stuff in his past. Of course there is. He's Pete Hegseth.

When you start drinking at 10 a.m., you have a full day of bad decisions. I'm sure he crashed his second wife's jet ski into his third wife's beach house, but I'm not gonna torture myself reporting on it now. The less I know, the better. Desi, transparency is important. We need to know the extent of his drinking problem.

Oh, we need to know the extent of his drinking problem. Come on. You really think that learning more about Pete's past is gonna actually stop his confirmation? of his drinking problem. Oh, we need to know the extent of his drinking problem. Come on. You really think that learning more about Pete's past is gonna actually stop his confirmation? Give me a joke. This is like going through your dad's browser history. He's still gonna be your dad, but now there's a bunch of stuff you can't unsee. D-D-D-D-Desi, it's not that simple.

I'll tell you what's not so simple. Your dad's browser history, because I went through it. Okay. Um... IlliterateMilfs.com. Food Network NipSlips. NudeAfrica.com. Okay, stop it. All right. No, there's no way that's my dad.

MapQuest.com. Oh, God, that's my dad. MapQuest dot com. Oh God, that's my dad. Amtrak sluts. Janet Reno camel toe dot guck. Okay, no, stop it. Stop it, stop it. Okay. See, not so fun knowing things

you can't do anything about, huh? Look, I spent Trump's first term knowing every single sexist, misogynist, racist detail about his freak squad. And where did that get us? Four more years of this freak squad. So what, you're just gonna ignore it and not do your job? It's called self-care, Jordan.

It was invented by Gwyneth Paltrow in 2008. So at this point, I don't want to know any of the disturbing details about Trump's nominees. I don't want to ruin my day finding out one of them killed a puppy. Actually, Kristi Noem did kill a puppy. My God, why would you say that, you jackass? Because she's nominated for Homeland Security.

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. You can't just give up knowing things, Desi. Democracy dies in darkness. Yes, but democracy also sleeps better in darkness. It can bundle up all cozy and hide under its weighted blanket and numb itself with CBD gummies until it wakes up in 2028. Doesn't that sound nice?

Oh, right. No. No, Desi, no. Look, I know it is hard, Desi. I know it's scary. But it is the sacred duty of journalists to investigate our leaders, to uncover the truth, no matter how uncomfortable or upsetting it may be.

-"Junkyard Sluts Butt Stuff." -"Junkyard Sluts Butt Stuff Redhead." -"Pose Cutting Their Own Bangs." -"Glen Close Cruella." -"Stop it. Okay, stop. You win. Ignorance is bliss. Desi Lydic, everyone. When we come back, we find out more on America's defense secretary. Don't go away.

Welcome back to The Daily Show. We've been following the confirmation hearings from Secretary of Defense all day. But who is the real Pete Hegseth? Let's find out in a brand new Daily Show-ography. Across the globe, the enemies of Uncle Sam are on the march. And the biggest war of all is the culture war. Taking on these kinky booted thugs

demands a hero like no other. A man who will fight for America. For MAGA. And most of all, for his right to party. This is the Daily Showography of Pete Hegseth. Overserved with honor. Pete Hegseth grew up in the Midwest, the most American part of America. He was the all-American boy, the varsity athlete who married his high school sweetheart, his best girl, who would then go on to be his second best girl and then his third best

girl. A family man through and through, he went through several families. It was at Princeton University that Pete first enlisted in the culture war. I ran the conservative publication on our campus. We were like bomb throwing. Fighting valiantly against the forces of diversity and gay, he championed traditional relationships between men and women, even if the woman is passed out drunk. I mean, technically, being unconscious is as anti-woke as you can get.

After graduation, Hegseth joined the military, having given the matter careful consideration. I didn't know the Army from the Marine Corps. I mean, I didn't know anything. Back home in 2012, he decided to serve his country in another way. My name is Pete Hegseth, and I'm running to be your next United States Senator. Sadly, it was not to be, and Pete dropped out of the race to spend more time with whichever wife and family he was up to by then. Honestly, it's up to by then. Honestly, it's hard to keep track.

Instead, Pete landed a job as the head of a small nonprofit veterans group, which became even more nonprofit after he nearly drove it into bankruptcy. Don't worry, the money went to a good cause. Party in! He was once again a man with a mission, and the stories of his exploits became legendary with the organization's HR department. Passing out in party buses, urinating on hotel lawns, leading a bar in chants of kill all Muslims, and getting kicked out of a strip club for trying to dance on stage.

were trying to dance on stage. Eventually, his luck ran out, and Pete found himself dishonorably discharged from his nonprofit platoon. He was now almost completely without friends. Almost. Come on up, Pete. You're next on Fox and Friends. And while even Fox News had a few employees who quietly complained about Hegseth's habit of showing up drunk for work

at 6 AM, the network was mostly a perfect culture fit. I've always wanted to do this. I will not be abstaining from alcohol maybe if I do well I'll get a pint. A little bit of champagne. There you go. I'm gonna get another refill hold on. Champagne is my problem when it comes to hangovers it just it's bad. But it fixes the problem in the morning because then you have a little bit more champagne and then your problem goes away who better to fight terrorism than the only soldier who's been waterboarded with champagne. More importantly Fox brought Hickseth back to the front

lines of the culture war. But black lives matter trying to destroy Christmas as we know it actually not hyperbole indoctrinating our our kids, opening our borders, canceling individuals. Wuhan virus, Chinese virus, maybe even the Kung flu. Apparently there's new lesbian characters. It's a female empowerment. Can the Black Panther be played by a white guy? With brain power like that, it was no wonder Hegseth decided he didn't need his grad school diploma anymore. By the way, Harvard University, let's see, let's do that.

And there were still some challenges along the way. Like the time Hegseth was banned from an assignment with his National Guard unit because someone noticed what looked like a white nationalist tattoo. But soon this recipient of two Bronze Stars earned the respect of America's greatest bronze star. And when Trump was re-elected in 2024, he knew where to find a secretary of defense who was willing to get his hands dirty. I don't think I've washed my hands for 10 years. Pete had his plans for winning the culture war ready. Any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever that was involved in any of the DEI

woke shit, it's gotta go. I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. His confirmation seemed like a sure thing. But then... An ambush. Breaking news, the President-elect's team has been caught off guard by a sexual assault allegation against Pete Hegseth. A whistleblower report that claims when Hegseth was president of Concerned Veterans for America

he was, quote, repeatedly intoxicated to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization's events. The allegations of Hegseth's debauchery were overwhelming. Nothing now would be able to persuade the Senate that he was fit for... I intend to support Pete. He made the pledge to me that he will not touch a drop of alcohol as secretary. He offered up to me that he's not drinking, and that's not something he's going to do when confirmed here.

Oh, well, never mind that. And so America's war on woke is now truly ready to begin. With Pete Hegseth at the helm, the Department of Defense will finally have a true leader. Maybe if I do well, I'll get a pint. And one can only assume absolutely insane Christmas parties. When we come back, Boyd Holbrook will be joining me on the show. Don't go away.

Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is an actor who plays Johnny Cash in the new film A Complete Unknown. Please welcome Boyd Holbrook. Welcome. Thank you for having me. Of course. Thank you. -♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh How do you prepare? Do you go method in a drunk scene? Yeah, you definitely want to go method for a 12-hour shoot. I was going to say. It's really hard to keep that up.

Yeah, what do you do in that? I've heard detailed... Sometimes, you pretend not to be drunk, and that's how you become drunk or look drunk? Yeah, well, Ray Liotta used to say you should just have your head stand upside down for, you know, a minute or two. But, really, it's just about playing. It's just about finding your way around the set. Yeah. And trying to, you know, a minute or two, but really, it's just about playing. It's just about finding your way around the set

and trying to, you know, crash into things. Just trying to just bump into things. And literally, they let you do this with a car. That's right, yeah. You play Johnny Cash, which is a tough thing to do. An iconic character in American history, but James Mangle, who directed this, also directed Walk the Line.

Famously, Joaquin Phoenix played Johnny Cash. So you're walking into the... You got a lot of trip wires. Big shoes to fill. Big shoes to fill. Did you guys discuss, like, how your Johnny Cash would be different than Johnny Cash? Or how is there an MCU metaverse separate thing going on here? Well, you know, I probably wouldn't have touched this role

if it wasn't for James Mangold. You know, as you said, he made Walk the Line. Yeah. Very big shoes to fill playing Johnny Cash after walking Phoenix. But, you know, it was in the research that James had done with Bob that found out that they were pen pals, and they'd written

all these letters back and forth to each other. Johnny had reached out to him in the beginning. Yeah. So I saw the importance of Johnny and Bob's life at that time. And I've worked with Jim two previous times, and it's just the best working experience I've ever had. So it was definitely a leap of faith to go there.

But, yeah, he's the captain. Now, the letters are fascinating because they truly are. They're very... They show, like, a personal side to Cash and that kind of they found... They lived isolated lives in their own fame but were able to sort of reach out and talk to one another. Did you see those letters? Did you work off of those letters? I know they show up in the film.

Yeah. The film that seems very honest to that part of the history. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I re-read them on the way over here, and they're written on the back of airplanes, sickness bags, and really just two guys at the, you know, the, you know, epic of fame. Without stationery. Yeah. Yeah? Yeah.

Isn't that such a comment on me? You think it's so famous, but you can't afford stationery, and you're the top of your game at this time. Yeah, there was no spell check or auto-correct at that time. No. This film takes a lot of efforts to be honest to the time period, and a lot of nerds, Dylanologists go over little bits and pieces of this movie,

call out things, and this movie takes good care. And as somebody who's definitely not a Dylanologist or a weird nerd like this, I had a question about the bugles that you used in that scene. There's a moment in that drunk scene where you're holding bugles and you offer them to Bob Dylan. And a nerdy Dylanologist might point out the fact

that bugles weren't nationally around in 1964, let alone in Newport, Rhode Island. And I wonder if that was a choice that you were making with another one. You totally got us on that one. It was the Doritos of the era. Yeah, uh-huh. Yeah, you know, Jim has this great way

of just finding these little moments in films. And if you come in prepared, we can, you know, have the Coke bottle flying off the car. We can create a prop in the car. It's just really coming up with those ideas. Oh, why Bugles? Why the Bugles? Because I think they're so, what are they?

They're just, they're not, they're not in modern day, I guess. I mean, you can get Bugles. My mom puts Bugles and Chex Mix, which is a real good hack for anybody out there at home. Is it a musical reference? Because the bugle itself is musical. It says, if Johnny Cash is passing the torch, the musical, the conch shell of the music.

I didn't want to spell it out for you that much. Okay, good, okay. You kind of painted me into a corner, so yeah. I'm glad. Leave a little bit of mystery out there as well, right? Do you like creating a character based on somebody that already exists? Or do you like the idea of creating a character from scratch? I've kind of made a living playing

all these little small characters in these films. And I prefer character work. But when you play an iconic person like this, you do have some sort of a pocket to be in. You know, there's the iconic voice that you're making an impression of. There's the sound of him. And so I had two interviews that I just knew verbatim.

And if I went out to my own speaking voice, I could always refer back to that. So it's almost like you're in a pocket of an E or a certain, like a song is in C. So you just know where this character lies all the time. Yeah, I'm curious what response you've gotten because even just as an audience, people watch your performance,

but they know what you're aiming at. They have a reference point for the attempt. In some ways in watching your performance, it's sort of like watching you as a trapeze artist. We know what the pratfalls could be and what your goal is at the end, as opposed to watching a complete creation, a new creation, which we're sort of investing in the discovery of what you find. Have you noticed a different response from movies where you are portraying people who do exist

that our audience watches? Oh, gosh. You know, my whole thing, with a legendary person like this, you really just don't want to tarnish their image. And to take this on was a real challenge. But in difference of character to this character, there was a, I would, there was a lot of pressure in terms of that, of just taking them out of the movie.

And I think that's really the important part of this. You can really get lost in this film and taken back to the 60s of when all this iconic music was being made in such a pivotal time. Yeah. I'm curious, because sort of embedded in this relationship are these two artists who sort of found a companionship

through these weird times. Is there a, in your creative life, is there somebody else who's a cash or a Dylan in your creative pursuit? Are you writing on the back of any kind of barf bags to anybody? I'm not writing on the back of any airplane thickness bags. I have my own heroes that I look up to.

Michael Shannon is a great actor. He's from Kentucky. He really inspired me to be an actor. Christian Bale threw me a bone and brought me onto a film early in my career. You know, I think sometimes you don't want to meet your heroes. You know?

This must be awkward for you then, huh? Yes, yes, it is. It is strange. Well, I hope I lived up to everything that was in your head. It was truly an honor. Truly an honor. And good luck. And when you get to play me in that biopic

years down the line... Could we get a pic after this? We can totally get a pic. We can totally get a pic, all right? But don't... But just let me know if you use bugle. I'll give you a little secret. For me, it's not bugles, okay? It's Fritos, okay? So, yeah, just...

I have some sour patches in my pocket. Sour patch? Don't f*** it up. Don't f*** up my mythology. The movie is truly wonderful. I loved it. Thank you very much. A Complete Unknown is in theaters now. Boyd Holbrook. We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back after this. MUSIC

That's our show for tonight. Now here it is, the moment of truth. By the way, would you explain what a JAG-Off is? I don't think I need to, sir. Why not? Because the men and women watching understand. Well, perhaps some of my colleagues don't understand. It would be a JAG officer who puts his or her own priorities in front of the war fighters. Their promotions, their medals, in front of having the backs of those who are making the

tough calls on the front lines. Thank you, Senator Reed. Interesting. 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.