If you’re sick of hearing about how Trump advisors added a journalist to a group chat about bombing Yemen, know that Ronny Chieng is sick of talking about it. “The Daily Show” senior correspondent and occasional host expressed his frustration over the seemingly never-ending news story on the latest episode of the Comedy Central show.
“This story might have ended on Day 1 if this administration had just owned it and made some bulls–t statement like, ‘Sorry, we’re taking accountability, #listeningandlearning, blah blah blah.’ But they just can’t help themselves because whenever they’re in trouble their default response is to punch their way out of it, which only makes things worse,” Chieng said on Wednesday night.
“So now we’re still talking about this three days later instead of what I wanted to cover tonight, which was 23andMe going bankrupt and what they’re going to do with all your DNA,” he continued, looking visibly frustrated. “One word: Face/off.”
On Monday, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that senior Trump advisors added him to a group chat on the encrypted messaging service Signal. Members of the chat then proceeded to discuss plans to bomb Yemen two hours before the attack.
The “Daily Show” team did manage to find some new angles on the story that’s been heavily covered this week, however. The first had to do with U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz’s baffling explanation for why Goldberg was added to the chat in the first place. “Have you ever had somebody’s contact that shows their name, and then you have somebody else’s number there?” Waltz asked during a recent Fox News appearance.
“No one’s ever had that,” Chieng said, staring at the camera in disbelief. “People don’t have a contact with a phone number for a different person unless they’re having an affair. So I think I’m saying I think this guy is having an affair with Jeffrey Goldberg?”
Chieng also defended Goldberg, who has been called a “loser” and a “sleaze-bag” by President Donald Trump, as well as “scum” by Waltz.
“He didn’t do anything,” Chieng said of Goldberg. “All he did was wake up in the morning, and you added him to your group chat. You like adducted him and forced him to see your secrets.” Watch the full monologue above.
