'The Daily Show' gets real about Elon Musk's White House takeover

Where does host Desi Lydic start?
 By 
Shannon Connellan
 on 
Desi Lydic speaking
Watch Next

Like Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, The Daily Show's Desi Lydic unpacked the current aggressive White House takeover of Donald Trump's "special government employee" Elon Musk.

The tech billionaire and his team have been infiltrating U.S. federal government departments including reportedly accessing the computer systems of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal government's HR department.

"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," said Lydic, pointing to the fact that Musk's newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is reportedly staffed mainly by college grads — including a former Neuralink intern whose online tag was "bigballs".

"Great, bigballs has my social security number, now I feel better!" Lydic said. "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."

A photo portrait of a journalist with blonde hair and a band t-shirt.
Shannon Connellan
UK Editor

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.


Latest Videos

Stephen Colbert reacts to the Artemis II moon mission
A man in a suit stands on a talk show stage, gesturing.



A24's 'Mother Mary' trailer is worth it for the FKA twigs track
Anne Hathway is dressed in a red pop star outfit with religious overtones in a film still from "Mother Mary."

Jon Stewart has a brutal reaction to Trump waffling about pens
A man in a suit sitting behind a talk show desk looks angry. In the top left is an image of the president holding up a pen.

Stephen Colbert gleefully recaps the best signs at the 'No Kings' protest
A man in a suit stands on a talk show stage, smiling. The caption at the bottom reads, "I like that one."

Riz Ahmed is troublingly intense in new 'SNL UK' promo
A close-up of a man grinning in a slightly creepy way.



Is This The End of Hollywood's ‘Bad Moms’?
Recent representations of motherhood on film: (from left) Amy Adams in 'Nightbitch', Jennifer Lawrence in 'Die My Love', and Rose Byrne in 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You'
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!