“The inventor of the Cybertruck thinks our government looks stupid,” announced “Daily Show” host Desi Lydic at the start of a Tuesday night segment that set its sights on Tesla CEO and “special government employee” Elon Musk.
After calling Musk a guy who “cheers in the wrong parts of ‘Saving Private Ryan,’” Lydic rolled a clip detailing how the billionaire has been given unprecedented access by President Donald Trump to multiple government departments, including the Treasury, which contains the personal information of millions of Americans. “Elon Musk has access to your Social Security number, and that is not cool,” Lydic said. “If you want our personal data, Elon, you go buy it off the dark web like everyone else, OK?”
“Now, you might be thinking, ‘I don’t want white nationalist Tony Stark to have sole control of the inner workings of the federal government,’ but relax. It’s not just Elon. He has a fully equipped team,” the “Daily Show” host added. Her comment was followed by a report about Musk’s DOGE team including recent high school and college graduates aged 19-24 years old, one of whom reportedly goes by “BigBalls” online.
“Great! BigBalls has my Social Security number. Now I feel better,” Lydic responded. “I know we complained about our leaders being too old, but doesn’t this go a little too far in the other direction? Surely there must be a middle ground somewhere between crypto bros and crypt keepers.”
Watch the segment below:
“The Daily Show” noted that Musk has been installing members of his DOGE team in “a whole bunch of little-known agencies that are crucial in actually running the government.” When Lydic turned to correspondent Troy Iwata to ask whether or not it’s legal for “Musk and his lost boys to access the sensitive information of the federal government,” Iwata replied, “That is a beautiful question, Desi. It doesn’t sound legal, but nothing does anymore.”
Addressing Musk’s ongoing efforts to shut down USAID, an agency responsible for administering billions in foreign aid, Lydic observed, “The richest man in the world is cutting off aid to poor countries.” Unable to contain her frustration any longer, the “Daily Show” host then asked, “Why can’t you just be a normal billionaire and co-host ‘Shark Tank’ or run an NBA team into the ground?”
Turning her attention back to the legality of Musk’s recent actions, Lydic continued, “USAID was codified by an act of Congress, so if Trump thinks he can have Elon Musk kill it, he must have a strong legal reason for why he can do that without an act of Congress.” Unfortunately, her assertion was followed by a clip of Trump saying that he doesn’t “know” and doesn’t “think” shutting down an agency like USAID requires congressional approval.
“Why should he know?” Lydic incredulously questioned in response to the footage. “He’s just the president.”
You can watch the full “Daily Show” segment in the video above.
