The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Trump Fights ABC Interviewer Over Photoshopped Image | Presidential Biographer Jon Meacham
Thu, 01 May 2025
Desi Lydic covers Trump’s 100th day celebrations: inviting ABC News into the White House to misunderstand the Declaration of Independence, grooving to his famous “YMCA” dance, and putting the economy on financial Ozempic. From the dark halls of Santa Monica to the caves of the Trump administration, Stephen Miller has been working in the shadows as the White House Chief of Staff. From influencing election denial to mass deportations, can Stephen Miller’s vampiric bite kill American democracy? Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer Jon Meacham joins to discuss the impact of Trump’s presidency on democracy. They talk about biographing imperfect presidents who bent history, the origins of the first 100 days under the Roosevelt administration, Trump’s unprecedented destruction of democratic institutions, and how the partisanship of facts has transformed reality into a reality show.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What happened during Trump's first 100 days in office?
Trump's been in office for 100 days, or as he likes to call it, longer than any president in the history of the world. It should be a week of celebration, but tell that to the economy.
Economic alarm bells. The US economy contracting by 0.3%. The contraction in the economy, first that we have seen in years, in fact. America's economy is shrinking.
Yes, the US economy is undergoing what economists refer to as a George Costanza. Now, obviously, the economy is a complex interaction of multiple markets, so it's difficult to point to any one factor, but it's all Trump. It's Trump. It's Donald Trump. The fact is, Trump just does not do well with the GDP, unless GDP stands for get that pussy! Which, sadly, those numbers are also down.
Melania doesn't live there anymore. But even though it's all his fault, this is a great opportunity for him to be a leader, to speak from the heart to Americans who are about to suffer real financial hardships because of his policies.
Somebody said, oh, the shelves are going to be open. Well, maybe the children will have $2 instead of $30, you know? And maybe the $2 will cost a couple of bucks more.
Wow, check out Mr. Rogers over here. I can't believe in a span of 100 days we went from we will all be richer than we've ever imagined to everyone gets two dolls, all right? But if you're sad that playtime will soon be over for your children, take comfort that it's just beginning for the old commander in child.
The president came out swinging and dancing to celebrate 100 days in office.
Trump had so much fun tonight. He had so much fun.
He seems like he's enjoying himself. Clearly, he was having a good time.
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Chapter 2: How did Trump celebrate his 100th day as president?
They've worked hard and had fun. Isn't that the pursuit of happiness?
No. No, Laura, it's not. We're not going to be eating cold beans huddled over a fire like, well, at least the president's happy. As long as he's backing that ass up, I think America's going to be A-OK. By the way, that was the first time I've seen Trump dancing from behind. And I got to say, don't do that ever again. Don't do that. I owe the front button apology.
Anyway, it's no surprise that the main story on Fox News is that Trump is live, laugh, loving being president. But as we all know, the American media is just as divided as the country itself. So depending on which cable news network you watch, Trump's first 100 days were either sick or sick.
100 days, Donald Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president in the history of modern polling.
Voters across America are weighing in saying, yes, Trump, keep going. Give me an assessment of Trump's first 100 days, one to 10.
A solid two, nothing more.
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Chapter 3: What was the public and media reaction to Trump's first 100 days?
20.
Donald Trump deserves an F. I would give President Trump an A, maybe even an A+. Fear and pessimism. Thrilled and excited. A disaster. It's awesome. 1,361 days to go of this journey. Man, I wish we could have 10,000 more days with President Trump.
10,000 more days? That is 27 years. I can't still be talking about Trump when I'm in my late 40s. It's not that funny. But while cable news debated, Trump himself celebrated the big 100 by inviting ABC News reporter Terry Moran to the White House for an interview. And Trump kicked things off by asking the same thing every kid does when a guest comes to the house. Want to see my room?
Hello, everybody. How are you? This is the Oval Office. This is an amazing space. I've added a lot to the space in terms of beautification, in terms of modernization.
Modernization? This looks like my great-grandmother decorated the mantelpiece with her great-grandmother's ashes. And I know that beautification is in the eye of the beholdification, but we can all agree that the foam core Gulf of America map is pulling focus, right? Is the Gulf of America having a bridal shower in the banquet room with a Hilton Garden Inn? Because if it's not, get it out of here.
But okay, you know what, show me a few more things in your room and then I gotta go join the grown-ups.
So you have Ronald Reagan here, you have Lincoln, you have Washington, but you look over here, that's Monroe, the Monroe Doctrine. Why is he up there? I think the Monroe Doctrine was pretty important, you know, that was his claim to fame.
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Chapter 4: What occurred during Trump's ABC News interview in the Oval Office?
Trump is always in the, I forgot to do the reading mode. Man, that Monroe Doctrine, so important. My favorite part? Probably the doctrine. And doctrine, as we all know, is a female doctor. But you know what? We can't expect Trump to know anything about a president whose picture he put up. It's not fair. So let's give him something easier. Donald, tell us what the Declaration of Independence is.
And remember, this is the document in which we declared independence.
Of course, you have the Declaration of Independence. What does it mean to you? Well, it means exactly what it says. It's a declaration. It's a declaration of unity and love and respect. And it means a lot. And it's something very special to our country.
Look at Terry Moran's face. He looks like a teacher about to call the school psychologist. This is a great drawing. Stay right here. But of course he'd make that face. Trump said that the Declaration of Independence meant unity. Unity is the opposite of independence. How did Trump find the one time that unity and love is the wrong answer?
What makes this even more sad is that the Declaration of Independence is basically the colonies filing for divorce. It's the one thing Trump should absolutely recognize. And all of that was supposed to be the softball part of the interview. It wasn't until Moran pulled up his serious chair that the questions got hard.
Now we have this trade war with China that Moody's and other analysts say is gonna cost American families thousands of more dollars per year. And there is a lot of concern out there. People are worried, even some people who voted for you saying, I didn't sign up for this. So how do you answer those concerns? Well, they did sign up for it.
I said, all these things during my campaign, I said, you're gonna have a transition period.
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Chapter 5: What controversies arose from Trump's comments on the Declaration of Independence?
That's what Trump said? Trump actually said that? Could we just check the tape on that?
1,047.
But first, prices will go so high you'll be sucking D for eggs.
Oh, yeah, my bad. I misremembered. But the wildest part of the interview by far was when it turned to Trump's deportation of Kilmar Garcia, who Trump says doesn't need due process because anyone can tell that Garcia is in the gang MS-13 just by looking at his tattoos.
And you'll pick out one man, but even the man that you picked out, he said he wasn't a member of a gang. And then they looked, and on his knuckles, he had MS-13. There's a dispute over that. Wait a minute.
He had MS-13 on his knuckles. He had some tattoos that are interpreted that way. But let's move on.
OK, let me just explain what's going on here. Garcia has tattoos on his hand and someone labeled a photo of them trying to prove that they're actually a code. The problem is Trump thinks that the labels are part of the tattoo and he is very, very insistent on it.
Let's move on. Wait a minute. Hey, Terry, Terry, Terry. He did not have the letter MS-13. It says MS-13. That was Photoshopped. Do you want me to show you the picture? I saw the picture.
And you think it was Photoshopped?
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Chapter 6: What was the debate about the photoshopped MS-13 tattoo image?
Oh, my eyes, my beautificated eyes! Oh, make it go away. When we come back, the truth about Stephen Miller. Welcome back to The Daily Show. One of the defining policies of President Trump's first 100 days has been his, let's say, enthusiastic deportation effort. We all know that the architect of that policy is his top aide, Stephen Miller. But how did Miller get such power?
Let's find out in a brand new Daily Showography.
Come gather round the dying embers of democracy and attend my chilling tale. The legend of a pale wraith who haunts the soul of an entire nation. A vampiric fiend with an insatiable urge to suck.
America is for Americans and Americans only.
This is the Twisted Chronicle of Stephen Miller. What he does in the shadows. By now you surely know of the plague wrought by the bald monstrosity.
Mass deportations. Chaos and confusion. People detained and families separated. A toddler and U.S.
citizen deported. Kids in cages. A Muslim ban.
This is how democracy dies. But what of the being's hideous origins? I first became aware of the wretched creature through tales told of him in the American West, in a cursed land called Santa Monica, a festering evil village with not even that great of a Ferris wheel. Even as a child, Stephen Miller struck fear into the hearts of the innocent, as his third grade teacher would later recall.
He was a strange dude. I remember he would take a bottle of glue and then he would pour the glue on his arm, let it dry, peel it off, and then eat it.
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Chapter 7: Who is Stephen Miller and why is he significant in Trump's administration?
Come on, buddy. Save something for your manifesto. The still-gestating monster was determined to wreak havoc any way he could.
Ha! Ha!
Whether it was jumping out of the stands into a girl's track meet to prove he was faster than them, or running for student government on a platform of being a total dick. By stepping out of the sunlight to run for office, Miller learned he was perhaps more suited to lurking in the shadows. Breaking the shackles of Santa Monica, Miller sojourned for a time at Duke University.
Once again, beasting on every conceivable controversy.
Chapter 8: What is Stephen Miller's background and influence on Trump's policies?
Shows like Will and Grace and Sex and the Scene promote alternative lifestyles and erode traditional values. The word Christmas is slowly being exiled from society. I, for one, am offended. And I'm Jewish. Smokey is not nearly as dangerous as special interest groups have made it out to be. The real risks are the fascistic tendencies that prohibit smoking. Prisoners are afforded so many luxuries.
Continue to worship at the altar of multiculturalism. So-called affirmative action. Sorry, feminists.
I would say he probably wasn't much fun at parties, but I'm pretty sure he never got invited to any. Miller's facility with arcane maledictions soon caught the eye of America's greatest master of the dark arts. Joining us now from Raleigh, Stephen Miller, columnist for the Duke Chronicle, a student newspaper. And so the tiki torch was passed to a new generation.
With the notoriety he had achieved, Grosferatu insinuated himself into the entourage of some of the most repellent figures in America's hellmouth. During these years, he sent nearly a thousand emails planting stories in right-wing media. They didn't all cite well-known white nationalists, but it was more than you would like. And then, in June 2015, he found a master truly worthy of his devotions.
I was watching the announcement, like everybody else, live on television. And as soon as I saw it, I said, I have to join this campaign.
They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists.
Miller became the Bronze Lord's most trusted minion.
Our republic is being destroyed now before our very eyes.
He conjured dark utterances for the new president's speeches.
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