May 26, 2025 • 23 mins
Celebrate Memorial Day with The Daily Show as we look back at previous coverage, and issues currently affecting veterans and the military.
President Bush speaks to Memorial Day and D-Day remembrance crowds, as Hollywood marks the occasions with promotion of blockbuster Pearl Harbor and HBO's Band of Brothers. Michael Kosta unpacks Trump's military trans ban. Ronny Chieng sits down with Senator Tammy Duckworth to hear her thoughts on Trump's treatment of veterans. Jon Stewart checks receipts on Trump's proposed birthday military parade, and Jordan Klepper is joined by trans military members to discuss how they've become so politicized.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We live in a proud nation, one flush with opportunity
and prosperity, and filled with a robust generation of Americans
who have valiantly fought for their right to party. But
believe it or not, there was a generation before this
generation that fought for something far greater the right to
party in Europe. And this Memorial Day they were honored
by none other than President George W. Bush, who placed
(00:29):
a wreath.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
On the tomb of the Unknowns.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
None are bestowed upon Bush, not for his war record,
but because he himself knows so very little.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It is not in our nature to seek out wars
and confluence, but whenever they have come, when adversaries have
left us, no alternative American men and women have stood
ready to take the risks and to pay the ultimate price.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Bush knows.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
He paid the ultimate price during Vietnam, a weekend a
month in the Texas Air National Guard that he'll never
get back. Bush also signed legislation to construct the World
War II Monument at a controversial site in the middle
of the National Mall.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Which is my huge honor to set my name on
this bill ordering construction of a monument.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
That will stand for the ages.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Not only will I sign the bill, I will make
sure the monument gets built.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
You're a bad mother Washo man the crowd. The crowd
applauded the president's forcefulness, but didn't really go for the
new design he had proposed. But even the most cynical
among us knows what Memorial Day weekend is really about.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Huge movie openings.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Disney's three hour popcorn and soda sale factory Pearl Harbor
this year's offering. It took in seventy five million dollars.
The film's grand scale, swelling score and star cross love
story is an attempt to harken back to Hollywood's golden
age of big screen epics. Oh and be sure to
try Wendy's new Pearl Harbor Berger. It's a sneak attack
(02:17):
on your hunger.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Despite a.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Which finger works better. Despite the box office numbers, critics
took a huge dump on this film, with The Wall
Street Journal saying it's a quote lame comedy, dubious history,
fumbling drama, and a love story so inept us to
make a pacifist.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Long for war.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
When historians look back on the years since World War Two,
it will perhaps be best remembered as the years when
America looked back on World War Two. U sixth anniversary
of D Day ceremonies honoring those who served in the
Great War abounded this week, and, as is customary in
any discussion of America's sacrifice in that great global conflict,
(03:10):
the natural first stop is Tom Hanks, who joined a
group of veterans in Normandy, France, to talk about his
latest project, the HBO war miniseries Band of Brothers. As filmmakers,
we certainly hope to entertain those in search of a
great story.
Speaker 6 (03:27):
We also hope to educate those who are unaware of
our own history.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
That's Band of Brothers on HBO, right after a Sex
and the City episode about Volvadinia. Dignitaries attending the ceremony
and the screening of the show included the grandchildren of
Winston Churchill, Franklin, Delano Roosevelt, and Dwight David Eisenhower. Afterwards,
they all agreed that they shouldn't trust the grandchildren of
Joseph Stalin. Meanwhile, in Bedford, Virginia, Resident Bush dedicated a
(04:01):
National D Day memorial in front of a crowd of
fifteen thousand. The crowd waited in polite anticipation of the
president's remarks, while three F sixteen's screeched across the sky
back towards Washington, apparently on their way to bring back
the speech Bush had accidentally left in his other pants.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
They have seen our nations through World War and a
cold rule. Our shared and our shared values and experiences
must guide us now in our continued partnership.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
It was a gritty performance. It was a fine performance,
especially considering that mere minutes before his speech, Bush thought
he was going to be talking about the D Day
from Animal House.
Speaker 7 (04:53):
Donald Trump was busy getting our military in shape so
he can finally fulfill our country's month old dream of
conquering Green and First, we're going to need to have
as many troops as possible.
Speaker 8 (05:05):
President Trump has signed several executive orders to reshape the military,
including directive banning transgender service members.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Okay, did I say as many troops?
Speaker 7 (05:14):
I mean fewer troops, right, You know what they say
in the army, less is more.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Look, maybe they don't say that. I don't know, but
that's Look.
Speaker 7 (05:24):
I don't have a problem with transgender soldiers. As someone
who peaes himself anytime he hears a loud noise. I
think we should be grateful to anyone who's willing to
put their life on the line so I don't have to.
But hey, yeah, okay, but I'm open minded about being
closed minded. So what's the issue here?
Speaker 8 (05:43):
President Trump signed an executive order calling transgender people unfit
to serve.
Speaker 9 (05:47):
One part says being transgender is quote not consistent with
the humility and selflessness required of a service member.
Speaker 8 (05:54):
Another says being trans conflicts with quote an honorable, truthful,
and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life.
Speaker 7 (06:02):
Yeah, well, look, you know it makes sense that the
military has to be honorable, truthful, and disciplined. You know, sure,
this is your secretary of Defense. But that's all the
more reason. That's all the more reason that the rest
of them have to have their shit together. It's like
how every Beatles album had to be packed with hits
(06:23):
to make up for that one song that Ringo wrote
about wanting to fuck an.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Octopus or whatever. I gotta say.
Speaker 7 (06:29):
The military sure has a lot of ethical rules for
their mission of killing people. Hey, you want to blow
some guys head off, you better say please and thank you.
But to be fair, Trump had another argument against trans
soldiers as well.
Speaker 10 (06:43):
They specifically cite readiness with transition surgeries. If you have
a transition surgery, the recovery time and the narcotics that
you have to be on as part of the process
could affect your.
Speaker 9 (06:57):
Readiness for up to twelve months.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Oh, up to twelve months. Do you know how long
our wars last.
Speaker 7 (07:05):
I think they'll have you back back in the game
in no time. Vietnam War eleven years, Afghanistan War twenty years,
even our storage wars last fifteen season. First of all,
transgender people make up point one percent of the military,
So Commander in Chief, you're ruining the lives of people
who are dedicated to serving America while doing nothing to
(07:27):
affect the larger military. I don't see why a transition
surgery should affect readiness more than any other surgery. Trump
is acting like they're doing transition surgeries on the front lines.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Medic I need a medic over here.
Speaker 7 (07:39):
We gotta get this guy a laby a stat Also,
what do you mean readiness? Modern war is just telling
a drone to drop bombs. I'm pretty sure it doesn't
matter what your sex is to go like this.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
That's how they drop momp. How are we treating all veterans?
Speaker 11 (08:03):
Well, we were doing really well until Trump decided to
fire six thousand of them from their federal jobs in
the last three months.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, and why do you do that?
Speaker 11 (08:15):
Well, you know, I guess this is a guy who
hugs the flags as he loves America, but then fires
six thousand veterans. I don't think he cares about us.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Yeah, so what like, what was the what was the
would he give any reasonable fire? There is no reason.
Speaker 11 (08:29):
It's part of their cuts across federal government. Veterans after
they serve in the military tend to want to serve
the country, continue to and a civil service. So thirty
of the federal workforce are veterans. And so this president
has fired more veterans than any other veterans than any
other president in modern history.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Okay, six thousand encounting. And how is that?
Speaker 11 (08:50):
How is that?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Okay, we get it all right. I don't like it. Well,
and that's that's specifically. Was it Doge or was it
something else?
Speaker 11 (08:58):
It was no, just across the board cuts. When you
fired this many federal employees, you're going to lose that
many veterans. But dot has also come out and they've
announced they want to cut eighty thousand personnel just from
the Department of Veterans Affairs. That's their next target.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
But okay, and that I don't know. Are these people
they can lose or is it going to run? Is
it running fine?
Speaker 12 (09:20):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:20):
What's the situation in the Veterans Affairs It was getting better.
Speaker 11 (09:22):
We passed the Packed Act, which was bipartisan, which basically
signed up a million more veterans who were exposed to
cancer causing toxic smoke from burn pits. They're finally getting
the care that they need. And now we have those
folks on board, and now they're going to fire all
the people who.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Take care of those folks. Okay, and so I'm pissed. Okay,
can anyone stop this?
Speaker 11 (09:50):
Well, we can try to stop them. We are fighting
them every step of the way. In my case, I've
been able to get some veterans their jobs back. They
fired veterans from the Veterans Crisis hot These are people
who answered the phone when a veteran is contemplating suicide.
They pick up the phone and NI get an answer
within eight seconds.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
So at least they used to.
Speaker 11 (10:09):
And so some of the folks who work in that
hot line were fired and they reached out to me
and we were able to get them their jobs back.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
So we are fighting back, so like one at a time,
one at a time. So there's jobs, there's jobs all lost,
but then there's overall just like veteran healthcare, right, Yeah,
they've had.
Speaker 11 (10:30):
To cancel operations. The spouses, the family members of disabled
veterans are not getting support through their hotline appointments and
are being canceled or now they're having to wait even longer.
We would just turn in the corner. We were actually
reducing the number of homeless veterans. We were just adding
more veterans getting more benefits. But remember this is a
president who says people who are wounded or died for
(10:52):
this country in uniform are all losers and suckers. He
doesn't care about us.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Okay, So just to just to put it out there,
this is also a guy who arguably a lot of
veterans would also vote for at the time. So how
do you reconcile that? I mean, well, I think what.
Speaker 11 (11:12):
They bought was this rhetoric from him that he was
going to you know, he wants going to make America great,
strong and powerful, and yet all he's done is made
us weaker, sicker, and less secure.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Okay, so yeah, so I mean, I guess the relevant
question is do you think it's changing the opinion of
the people will voted for him?
Speaker 10 (11:34):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Definitely.
Speaker 11 (11:35):
Have you seen what's been happening at these Republican town
halls where people across the country is showing up in
tom haws and saying, what are you doing to our veterans?
I'm a veteran, why did you cut my benefits? I
had a veteran reach out to me from Tennessee because
he was declared dead right and didn't get his didn't
get his regular checks.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Once he did, he.
Speaker 11 (11:56):
Didn't reach out to me through Ouija born he actually
reached out to me.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
But okay, but again the question is, okay, so we
all have obviously, you know what kind of preaching to
the acquire here. Obviously the people who didn't like who
didn't want to vote for his president, still we maintained
that we shouldn't have vote for his guy. The question
is what about the veterans specifically, because you're more in
touch with that community. When do you feel that there
(12:24):
is a change in sentiment that was previously overwhelmingly in
his favor. Do you think it's changing a bit or
is it still very much? No, he's doing the right thing.
We don't see a problem. The issues are exaggerated. I mean,
is that I think it's changing. I think there's two
things that are happening. One, the fact that he is
basically kissing Vladimir Putin's you can see it, you know,
(12:47):
means that these are people who spent their entire military
careers getting ready to oppose Russia and now they see
the commander in chief basically doing whatever Putin wants him
to do.
Speaker 11 (13:00):
So that is changing the sentiment. The other thing that's
happening is all of this rhetoric against women serving, against
LGBTQ veterans serving. You people forget that there's been a
generational change within the military.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Uh.
Speaker 11 (13:13):
Gen xers are now the old people. Millennials are now
the upper management and they've only ever served.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
And well happy to be here and finally to take
now the field. They're not the field. Great gen X people,
I'm gen X Yeah, okay.
Speaker 11 (13:33):
So so so Millennial millennials are now the majors, colonels.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
They're not.
Speaker 11 (13:39):
They're now colonels, right, they're not sergeants majors, you know,
they're now higher ranking, and.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
So you say this, but then it's like, but they
think they he kind of said what he was going
to do before he ran, was before he got appointed
against you know, women in military. They still won. So
my question is is anything that's happened changing the sentiment.
It is because I think a.
Speaker 11 (14:04):
Lot of them didn't believe that that was what was
going to happen, and they saw the reality of the
fact that the military cannot do its job without women
in service. The military cannot truly do its job without
diversity in the in the force where people can speak
different languages around the world. You want soldiers who can
speak Swahili without forces in Africa. You want, you know,
soldiers that can speak all the different languages. And so
(14:26):
the millennials have only ever been in the military where
there was equal service with women.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And white people can't speak so human.
Speaker 11 (14:33):
Well, you know, but you want native speakers, right, you
want you want more diversity. You want that, you know,
diversity inclusion is a good thing. You want people who
have those backgrounds. You want somebody like me who speaks
taient in Indonesian to be able to go in and
and and speak those local languages. And we also have
people in charge of the military now, the millennial generation
(14:54):
who have only ever served equally without don't ask, don't tell.
They so they know the lie behind LGBTQ people are
not good for the military. Well, no, they know that
we've always served equally. We can't go to war without
each other.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Okay, at least we're finally getting to address in a
substantive manner Trump's chaotic stewardship of what was the world's
most stable economy and how Americans are going to have
to sacrifice financially and tamp down their consumerist impulse and
(15:27):
that is what has driven so much of our economy
and I guess our waste. And I'm sure the President
will use this interview with Welker to cheer lead the
effort to a more financially responsible future.
Speaker 13 (15:40):
For all of us.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
We're gonna have a big, beautiful parade, a military parade.
We celebrate we have the greatest military people peanuts compared
to the value of doing it.
Speaker 9 (15:53):
We can't afford not to do it.
Speaker 12 (15:58):
Why don't you believe in me?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
If you hadn't spent so much on dollars in pencils.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
We weren't even talking about this and see, but this
is the brilliance of Trump. In the same interview where
he says to Americans, sorry about your Christmas, suck it up,
he talks about.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
A ninety million dollars.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Parade that just so happens to fall on his birthday
and is totally worth it.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have
the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest
army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons
in the world, and we're going to celebrate it.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I don't know, mister President, if you know how submarines work.
Speaker 12 (16:44):
But.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Dragging them down Pennsylvania Avenue will most likely void the warranty.
Speaker 9 (17:01):
The US military the most powerful and respected organization in
the entire world. Few have what it takes, the discipline,
the strength, the bravery, the sacrifices made to serve our country.
But according to the Trump White House, there's an enemy
with him.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Everything's transgender. Everybody transgender.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
That's all you hear about.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to begin
enforcing a ban on transgender service members.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
No more pronouns, no more dudes in dresses. We're done
with that shit.
Speaker 9 (17:34):
And I had some hard hitting questions, so as the
Daily Show senior war correspondent, ONLYI had the guts too.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Wow.
Speaker 9 (17:43):
Paper cuts ah once recovered. I met with some transgender
individuals to hear their unqualifications.
Speaker 12 (17:52):
My name is Lieutenant Ray Timberlake. I'm in the United
States Navy and I've been serving for about seventeen years.
Speaker 13 (17:58):
My name is Clayton, and I've been trying to go
for a pair rescue PJ in the Air Force and
it's a special warfare career field.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
I'm Second Lieutenant Nicholas Talbot with the United States Army Reserve.
I've been in for a little over a year.
Speaker 14 (18:09):
I'm Joe Allis. I'm a Chief Warrant Officer too, and
the Virginia Army National Guard. I've served for fifteen years.
The U sixty wars is a.
Speaker 9 (18:17):
Blackhawk at A one twelve war stories, but I've flown
Spirit airlines twice, so they're no danger. They seem qualified
to me, But there are others who think their weakening
are military.
Speaker 11 (18:29):
They can't go to sea, they can't fly airplanes in combat.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
They can't deploy with the army into combat areas.
Speaker 14 (18:36):
We should never allow anyone in the military to undergo
transition surgery, which would make.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Them medically unqualified to deploy.
Speaker 12 (18:44):
This idea that we spend years of being non deployable
is just simply undreue. I've never missed a deployment. I
can fight tonight.
Speaker 14 (18:53):
They've paid for nothing for my transition. I paid out
of pocket because I wanted to be mission ready as
fast as possible. Six weeks I was deployable again, and
I'm deployable today. They spend many times more on biagra
than they do on gender firming care.
Speaker 9 (19:07):
If we don't have viagra in the military, then who
is going to take care of Pete haiksas whiskey Dick.
I mean, that's not how I want to serve my country.
Turns out, the US military spends eight times more on
viagra than gender a firming care, over thirty seven million
more to be exact. And on top of that, replacing
transgender troops could cost an estimated nine hundred and sixty
(19:29):
million dollars in recruiting and training, which ain't easy.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
It's it's very physically intense. After going through a pretty
extensive medical exam to even get into the military. Going
to basic training. It's a lot like what most people
think it is. It's like it's pretty Yeah, it's boot camp.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I did theater camp. It's tough. My tour duty was
South Pacific. Belly High's calling belly high? Is that Haltwood. Yeah.
Speaker 13 (19:57):
All the trans people that are serving go above and
beyond the standards, and they do their job every day.
Speaker 14 (20:01):
But it's interesting to hear that we are too strong
for sports but too weak for the military.
Speaker 9 (20:07):
Being too weak for both, I was curious why anyone
would want to kick out these dedicated individuals.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
If I'm in a foxhoul, I don't want to know
whether this guy next to me is wondering if he's
a woman or a man, or flip back back and.
Speaker 9 (20:22):
Forth, because everyone knows when you're fighting on the front lines,
the real enemies are the preferred pronouns of the person
next to you.
Speaker 14 (20:31):
So I go by rank and last name. If someone
uses a pronoun that I don't prefer, I really don't care.
To me, it's a distraction. Like my job is to
fly the helicopter.
Speaker 9 (20:40):
I'm curious what the reaction has been to you. Being
trans in the military.
Speaker 12 (20:46):
I received an outpouring of support when I came out.
Speaker 14 (20:49):
They're my family and ad my back.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
At the end of the day, all anybody cares about
is whether I can perform my job when I have
that uniform on.
Speaker 9 (20:55):
Lucky nice to have respectful co workers. I work at
this guy running.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
He's a total dick. He's just a dick.
Speaker 9 (21:02):
So if the people in the military itself don't care,
then why do the administration impose an executive order stating this.
Speaker 13 (21:09):
An adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual
sex can float with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful,
and disciplined lifestyle.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
I was named an honor graduate at Basic Training, so
I would say, you know, at least someone out there
agrees that I have some honor and some discipline in me.
Speaker 9 (21:26):
Would you leak war plans on signal? Are you that disciplined?
Speaker 6 (21:29):
I don't have any plans to do.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
So good to know.
Speaker 14 (21:31):
If more people met trans people like us, then there
would be no issue.
Speaker 9 (21:36):
If the world's on fire, these are the folks I
want in the fox hole. But would they want me?
Do you guys think I would be an asset in
the US military.
Speaker 12 (21:46):
How many push ups can you do?
Speaker 9 (21:47):
It's sort of like jazz. It's all about the push
ups you don't do. And right now I'm not doing millions.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
How fast can you run two miles?
Speaker 9 (21:55):
Well, I can drive it in under forty seconds.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
So I was at Fortsville, Oklahoma for training. It was
about one hundred and twenty degrees fahrenheit most days.
Speaker 9 (22:03):
Yeah, that's not gonna work for me. If I'm in
the sun for more than seven minutes, I get heat rash.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Just like that.
Speaker 12 (22:09):
Have you ever tried an MRI?
Speaker 13 (22:11):
Uh?
Speaker 9 (22:11):
Yeah, And it told me that it was just a
little fracture in my foot.
Speaker 14 (22:15):
I think what you're talking about a MRI. No MRI
is a meal that's ready to eat.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, military ship.
Speaker 9 (22:22):
While lawsuits are still pending and the fight's not over,
I imagine these troops have lost the appetite to fight
for a country that refuses to acknowledge they even exist.
Speaker 14 (22:32):
President Trump is my commander in chief, and I will
gladly answer the cough he calls me up to active duty.
Speaker 6 (22:37):
America's my home, this is my country, this is you know,
where I want to be and who I want to
fight for.
Speaker 13 (22:42):
I'm willing to serve, I'm able to serve, and I
can get the job done.
Speaker 12 (22:45):
I'd say, come to the fleet, come to the field,
comes to you. What the thousands of transgender service members
do every day in support of our nation's defense.
Speaker 9 (22:53):
Sounds like patriotism to me.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
But what do I know?
Speaker 9 (22:56):
I didn't serve because of closed.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
Grip or more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe
by searching The Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Watch The Daily Show weeknights at eleven.
Speaker 9 (23:10):
Ten Central on Comedy Central.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
And stream full episodes anytime on Paramount plus
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Paramount Podcasts
You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We live in a proud nation, one flush with opportunity
and prosperity, and filled with a robust generation of Americans
who have valiantly fought for their right to party. But
believe it or not, there was a generation before this
generation that fought for something far greater the right to
party in Europe. And this Memorial Day they were honored
by none other than President George W. Bush, who placed
(00:29):
a wreath.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
On the tomb of the Unknowns.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
None are bestowed upon Bush, not for his war record,
but because he himself knows so very little.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It is not in our nature to seek out wars
and confluence, but whenever they have come, when adversaries have
left us, no alternative American men and women have stood
ready to take the risks and to pay the ultimate price.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Bush knows.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
He paid the ultimate price during Vietnam, a weekend a
month in the Texas Air National Guard that he'll never
get back. Bush also signed legislation to construct the World
War II Monument at a controversial site in the middle
of the National Mall.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Which is my huge honor to set my name on
this bill ordering construction of a monument.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
That will stand for the ages.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Not only will I sign the bill, I will make
sure the monument gets built.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
You're a bad mother Washo man the crowd. The crowd
applauded the president's forcefulness, but didn't really go for the
new design he had proposed. But even the most cynical
among us knows what Memorial Day weekend is really about.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Huge movie openings.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Disney's three hour popcorn and soda sale factory Pearl Harbor
this year's offering. It took in seventy five million dollars.
The film's grand scale, swelling score and star cross love
story is an attempt to harken back to Hollywood's golden
age of big screen epics. Oh and be sure to
try Wendy's new Pearl Harbor Berger. It's a sneak attack
(02:17):
on your hunger.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Despite a.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Which finger works better. Despite the box office numbers, critics
took a huge dump on this film, with The Wall
Street Journal saying it's a quote lame comedy, dubious history,
fumbling drama, and a love story so inept us to
make a pacifist.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Long for war.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
When historians look back on the years since World War Two,
it will perhaps be best remembered as the years when
America looked back on World War Two. U sixth anniversary
of D Day ceremonies honoring those who served in the
Great War abounded this week, and, as is customary in
any discussion of America's sacrifice in that great global conflict,
(03:10):
the natural first stop is Tom Hanks, who joined a
group of veterans in Normandy, France, to talk about his
latest project, the HBO war miniseries Band of Brothers. As filmmakers,
we certainly hope to entertain those in search of a
great story.
Speaker 6 (03:27):
We also hope to educate those who are unaware of
our own history.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
That's Band of Brothers on HBO, right after a Sex
and the City episode about Volvadinia. Dignitaries attending the ceremony
and the screening of the show included the grandchildren of
Winston Churchill, Franklin, Delano Roosevelt, and Dwight David Eisenhower. Afterwards,
they all agreed that they shouldn't trust the grandchildren of
Joseph Stalin. Meanwhile, in Bedford, Virginia, Resident Bush dedicated a
(04:01):
National D Day memorial in front of a crowd of
fifteen thousand. The crowd waited in polite anticipation of the
president's remarks, while three F sixteen's screeched across the sky
back towards Washington, apparently on their way to bring back
the speech Bush had accidentally left in his other pants.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
They have seen our nations through World War and a
cold rule. Our shared and our shared values and experiences
must guide us now in our continued partnership.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
It was a gritty performance. It was a fine performance,
especially considering that mere minutes before his speech, Bush thought
he was going to be talking about the D Day
from Animal House.
Speaker 7 (04:53):
Donald Trump was busy getting our military in shape so
he can finally fulfill our country's month old dream of
conquering Green and First, we're going to need to have
as many troops as possible.
Speaker 8 (05:05):
President Trump has signed several executive orders to reshape the military,
including directive banning transgender service members.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Okay, did I say as many troops?
Speaker 7 (05:14):
I mean fewer troops, right, You know what they say
in the army, less is more.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Look, maybe they don't say that. I don't know, but
that's Look.
Speaker 7 (05:24):
I don't have a problem with transgender soldiers. As someone
who peaes himself anytime he hears a loud noise. I
think we should be grateful to anyone who's willing to
put their life on the line so I don't have to.
But hey, yeah, okay, but I'm open minded about being
closed minded. So what's the issue here?
Speaker 8 (05:43):
President Trump signed an executive order calling transgender people unfit
to serve.
Speaker 9 (05:47):
One part says being transgender is quote not consistent with
the humility and selflessness required of a service member.
Speaker 8 (05:54):
Another says being trans conflicts with quote an honorable, truthful,
and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life.
Speaker 7 (06:02):
Yeah, well, look, you know it makes sense that the
military has to be honorable, truthful, and disciplined. You know, sure,
this is your secretary of Defense. But that's all the
more reason. That's all the more reason that the rest
of them have to have their shit together. It's like
how every Beatles album had to be packed with hits
(06:23):
to make up for that one song that Ringo wrote
about wanting to fuck an.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Octopus or whatever. I gotta say.
Speaker 7 (06:29):
The military sure has a lot of ethical rules for
their mission of killing people. Hey, you want to blow
some guys head off, you better say please and thank you.
But to be fair, Trump had another argument against trans
soldiers as well.
Speaker 10 (06:43):
They specifically cite readiness with transition surgeries. If you have
a transition surgery, the recovery time and the narcotics that
you have to be on as part of the process
could affect your.
Speaker 9 (06:57):
Readiness for up to twelve months.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Oh, up to twelve months. Do you know how long
our wars last.
Speaker 7 (07:05):
I think they'll have you back back in the game
in no time. Vietnam War eleven years, Afghanistan War twenty years,
even our storage wars last fifteen season. First of all,
transgender people make up point one percent of the military,
So Commander in Chief, you're ruining the lives of people
who are dedicated to serving America while doing nothing to
(07:27):
affect the larger military. I don't see why a transition
surgery should affect readiness more than any other surgery. Trump
is acting like they're doing transition surgeries on the front lines.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Medic I need a medic over here.
Speaker 7 (07:39):
We gotta get this guy a laby a stat Also,
what do you mean readiness? Modern war is just telling
a drone to drop bombs. I'm pretty sure it doesn't
matter what your sex is to go like this.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
That's how they drop momp. How are we treating all veterans?
Speaker 11 (08:03):
Well, we were doing really well until Trump decided to
fire six thousand of them from their federal jobs in
the last three months.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, and why do you do that?
Speaker 11 (08:15):
Well, you know, I guess this is a guy who
hugs the flags as he loves America, but then fires
six thousand veterans. I don't think he cares about us.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Yeah, so what like, what was the what was the
would he give any reasonable fire? There is no reason.
Speaker 11 (08:29):
It's part of their cuts across federal government. Veterans after
they serve in the military tend to want to serve
the country, continue to and a civil service. So thirty
of the federal workforce are veterans. And so this president
has fired more veterans than any other veterans than any
other president in modern history.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Okay, six thousand encounting. And how is that?
Speaker 11 (08:50):
How is that?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Okay, we get it all right. I don't like it. Well,
and that's that's specifically. Was it Doge or was it
something else?
Speaker 11 (08:58):
It was no, just across the board cuts. When you
fired this many federal employees, you're going to lose that
many veterans. But dot has also come out and they've
announced they want to cut eighty thousand personnel just from
the Department of Veterans Affairs. That's their next target.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
But okay, and that I don't know. Are these people
they can lose or is it going to run? Is
it running fine?
Speaker 12 (09:20):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:20):
What's the situation in the Veterans Affairs It was getting better.
Speaker 11 (09:22):
We passed the Packed Act, which was bipartisan, which basically
signed up a million more veterans who were exposed to
cancer causing toxic smoke from burn pits. They're finally getting
the care that they need. And now we have those
folks on board, and now they're going to fire all
the people who.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Take care of those folks. Okay, and so I'm pissed. Okay,
can anyone stop this?
Speaker 11 (09:50):
Well, we can try to stop them. We are fighting
them every step of the way. In my case, I've
been able to get some veterans their jobs back. They
fired veterans from the Veterans Crisis hot These are people
who answered the phone when a veteran is contemplating suicide.
They pick up the phone and NI get an answer
within eight seconds.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
So at least they used to.
Speaker 11 (10:09):
And so some of the folks who work in that
hot line were fired and they reached out to me
and we were able to get them their jobs back.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
So we are fighting back, so like one at a time,
one at a time. So there's jobs, there's jobs all lost,
but then there's overall just like veteran healthcare, right, Yeah,
they've had.
Speaker 11 (10:30):
To cancel operations. The spouses, the family members of disabled
veterans are not getting support through their hotline appointments and
are being canceled or now they're having to wait even longer.
We would just turn in the corner. We were actually
reducing the number of homeless veterans. We were just adding
more veterans getting more benefits. But remember this is a
president who says people who are wounded or died for
(10:52):
this country in uniform are all losers and suckers. He
doesn't care about us.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Okay, So just to just to put it out there,
this is also a guy who arguably a lot of
veterans would also vote for at the time. So how
do you reconcile that? I mean, well, I think what.
Speaker 11 (11:12):
They bought was this rhetoric from him that he was
going to you know, he wants going to make America great,
strong and powerful, and yet all he's done is made
us weaker, sicker, and less secure.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Okay, so yeah, so I mean, I guess the relevant
question is do you think it's changing the opinion of
the people will voted for him?
Speaker 10 (11:34):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Definitely.
Speaker 11 (11:35):
Have you seen what's been happening at these Republican town
halls where people across the country is showing up in
tom haws and saying, what are you doing to our veterans?
I'm a veteran, why did you cut my benefits? I
had a veteran reach out to me from Tennessee because
he was declared dead right and didn't get his didn't
get his regular checks.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Once he did, he.
Speaker 11 (11:56):
Didn't reach out to me through Ouija born he actually
reached out to me.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
But okay, but again the question is, okay, so we
all have obviously, you know what kind of preaching to
the acquire here. Obviously the people who didn't like who
didn't want to vote for his president, still we maintained
that we shouldn't have vote for his guy. The question
is what about the veterans specifically, because you're more in
touch with that community. When do you feel that there
(12:24):
is a change in sentiment that was previously overwhelmingly in
his favor. Do you think it's changing a bit or
is it still very much? No, he's doing the right thing.
We don't see a problem. The issues are exaggerated. I mean,
is that I think it's changing. I think there's two
things that are happening. One, the fact that he is
basically kissing Vladimir Putin's you can see it, you know,
(12:47):
means that these are people who spent their entire military
careers getting ready to oppose Russia and now they see
the commander in chief basically doing whatever Putin wants him
to do.
Speaker 11 (13:00):
So that is changing the sentiment. The other thing that's
happening is all of this rhetoric against women serving, against
LGBTQ veterans serving. You people forget that there's been a
generational change within the military.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Uh.
Speaker 11 (13:13):
Gen xers are now the old people. Millennials are now
the upper management and they've only ever served.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
And well happy to be here and finally to take
now the field. They're not the field. Great gen X people,
I'm gen X Yeah, okay.
Speaker 11 (13:33):
So so so Millennial millennials are now the majors, colonels.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
They're not.
Speaker 11 (13:39):
They're now colonels, right, they're not sergeants majors, you know,
they're now higher ranking, and.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
So you say this, but then it's like, but they
think they he kind of said what he was going
to do before he ran, was before he got appointed
against you know, women in military. They still won. So
my question is is anything that's happened changing the sentiment.
It is because I think a.
Speaker 11 (14:04):
Lot of them didn't believe that that was what was
going to happen, and they saw the reality of the
fact that the military cannot do its job without women
in service. The military cannot truly do its job without
diversity in the in the force where people can speak
different languages around the world. You want soldiers who can
speak Swahili without forces in Africa. You want, you know,
soldiers that can speak all the different languages. And so
(14:26):
the millennials have only ever been in the military where
there was equal service with women.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And white people can't speak so human.
Speaker 11 (14:33):
Well, you know, but you want native speakers, right, you
want you want more diversity. You want that, you know,
diversity inclusion is a good thing. You want people who
have those backgrounds. You want somebody like me who speaks
taient in Indonesian to be able to go in and
and and speak those local languages. And we also have
people in charge of the military now, the millennial generation
(14:54):
who have only ever served equally without don't ask, don't tell.
They so they know the lie behind LGBTQ people are
not good for the military. Well, no, they know that
we've always served equally. We can't go to war without
each other.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Okay, at least we're finally getting to address in a
substantive manner Trump's chaotic stewardship of what was the world's
most stable economy and how Americans are going to have
to sacrifice financially and tamp down their consumerist impulse and
(15:27):
that is what has driven so much of our economy
and I guess our waste. And I'm sure the President
will use this interview with Welker to cheer lead the
effort to a more financially responsible future.
Speaker 13 (15:40):
For all of us.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
We're gonna have a big, beautiful parade, a military parade.
We celebrate we have the greatest military people peanuts compared
to the value of doing it.
Speaker 9 (15:53):
We can't afford not to do it.
Speaker 12 (15:58):
Why don't you believe in me?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
If you hadn't spent so much on dollars in pencils.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
We weren't even talking about this and see, but this
is the brilliance of Trump. In the same interview where
he says to Americans, sorry about your Christmas, suck it up,
he talks about.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
A ninety million dollars.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Parade that just so happens to fall on his birthday
and is totally worth it.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have
the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest
army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons
in the world, and we're going to celebrate it.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I don't know, mister President, if you know how submarines work.
Speaker 12 (16:44):
But.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Dragging them down Pennsylvania Avenue will most likely void the warranty.
Speaker 9 (17:01):
The US military the most powerful and respected organization in
the entire world. Few have what it takes, the discipline,
the strength, the bravery, the sacrifices made to serve our country.
But according to the Trump White House, there's an enemy
with him.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Everything's transgender. Everybody transgender.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
That's all you hear about.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to begin
enforcing a ban on transgender service members.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
No more pronouns, no more dudes in dresses. We're done
with that shit.
Speaker 9 (17:34):
And I had some hard hitting questions, so as the
Daily Show senior war correspondent, ONLYI had the guts too.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Wow.
Speaker 9 (17:43):
Paper cuts ah once recovered. I met with some transgender
individuals to hear their unqualifications.
Speaker 12 (17:52):
My name is Lieutenant Ray Timberlake. I'm in the United
States Navy and I've been serving for about seventeen years.
Speaker 13 (17:58):
My name is Clayton, and I've been trying to go
for a pair rescue PJ in the Air Force and
it's a special warfare career field.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
I'm Second Lieutenant Nicholas Talbot with the United States Army Reserve.
I've been in for a little over a year.
Speaker 14 (18:09):
I'm Joe Allis. I'm a Chief Warrant Officer too, and
the Virginia Army National Guard. I've served for fifteen years.
The U sixty wars is a.
Speaker 9 (18:17):
Blackhawk at A one twelve war stories, but I've flown
Spirit airlines twice, so they're no danger. They seem qualified
to me, But there are others who think their weakening
are military.
Speaker 11 (18:29):
They can't go to sea, they can't fly airplanes in combat.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
They can't deploy with the army into combat areas.
Speaker 14 (18:36):
We should never allow anyone in the military to undergo
transition surgery, which would make.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Them medically unqualified to deploy.
Speaker 12 (18:44):
This idea that we spend years of being non deployable
is just simply undreue. I've never missed a deployment. I
can fight tonight.
Speaker 14 (18:53):
They've paid for nothing for my transition. I paid out
of pocket because I wanted to be mission ready as
fast as possible. Six weeks I was deployable again, and
I'm deployable today. They spend many times more on biagra
than they do on gender firming care.
Speaker 9 (19:07):
If we don't have viagra in the military, then who
is going to take care of Pete haiksas whiskey Dick.
I mean, that's not how I want to serve my country.
Turns out, the US military spends eight times more on
viagra than gender a firming care, over thirty seven million
more to be exact. And on top of that, replacing
transgender troops could cost an estimated nine hundred and sixty
(19:29):
million dollars in recruiting and training, which ain't easy.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
It's it's very physically intense. After going through a pretty
extensive medical exam to even get into the military. Going
to basic training. It's a lot like what most people
think it is. It's like it's pretty Yeah, it's boot camp.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I did theater camp. It's tough. My tour duty was
South Pacific. Belly High's calling belly high? Is that Haltwood. Yeah.
Speaker 13 (19:57):
All the trans people that are serving go above and
beyond the standards, and they do their job every day.
Speaker 14 (20:01):
But it's interesting to hear that we are too strong
for sports but too weak for the military.
Speaker 9 (20:07):
Being too weak for both, I was curious why anyone
would want to kick out these dedicated individuals.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
If I'm in a foxhoul, I don't want to know
whether this guy next to me is wondering if he's
a woman or a man, or flip back back and.
Speaker 9 (20:22):
Forth, because everyone knows when you're fighting on the front lines,
the real enemies are the preferred pronouns of the person
next to you.
Speaker 14 (20:31):
So I go by rank and last name. If someone
uses a pronoun that I don't prefer, I really don't care.
To me, it's a distraction. Like my job is to
fly the helicopter.
Speaker 9 (20:40):
I'm curious what the reaction has been to you. Being
trans in the military.
Speaker 12 (20:46):
I received an outpouring of support when I came out.
Speaker 14 (20:49):
They're my family and ad my back.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
At the end of the day, all anybody cares about
is whether I can perform my job when I have
that uniform on.
Speaker 9 (20:55):
Lucky nice to have respectful co workers. I work at
this guy running.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
He's a total dick. He's just a dick.
Speaker 9 (21:02):
So if the people in the military itself don't care,
then why do the administration impose an executive order stating this.
Speaker 13 (21:09):
An adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual
sex can float with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful,
and disciplined lifestyle.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
I was named an honor graduate at Basic Training, so
I would say, you know, at least someone out there
agrees that I have some honor and some discipline in me.
Speaker 9 (21:26):
Would you leak war plans on signal? Are you that disciplined?
Speaker 6 (21:29):
I don't have any plans to do.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
So good to know.
Speaker 14 (21:31):
If more people met trans people like us, then there
would be no issue.
Speaker 9 (21:36):
If the world's on fire, these are the folks I
want in the fox hole. But would they want me?
Do you guys think I would be an asset in
the US military.
Speaker 12 (21:46):
How many push ups can you do?
Speaker 9 (21:47):
It's sort of like jazz. It's all about the push
ups you don't do. And right now I'm not doing millions.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
How fast can you run two miles?
Speaker 9 (21:55):
Well, I can drive it in under forty seconds.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
So I was at Fortsville, Oklahoma for training. It was
about one hundred and twenty degrees fahrenheit most days.
Speaker 9 (22:03):
Yeah, that's not gonna work for me. If I'm in
the sun for more than seven minutes, I get heat rash.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Just like that.
Speaker 12 (22:09):
Have you ever tried an MRI?
Speaker 13 (22:11):
Uh?
Speaker 9 (22:11):
Yeah, And it told me that it was just a
little fracture in my foot.
Speaker 14 (22:15):
I think what you're talking about a MRI. No MRI
is a meal that's ready to eat.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, military ship.
Speaker 9 (22:22):
While lawsuits are still pending and the fight's not over,
I imagine these troops have lost the appetite to fight
for a country that refuses to acknowledge they even exist.
Speaker 14 (22:32):
President Trump is my commander in chief, and I will
gladly answer the cough he calls me up to active duty.
Speaker 6 (22:37):
America's my home, this is my country, this is you know,
where I want to be and who I want to
fight for.
Speaker 13 (22:42):
I'm willing to serve, I'm able to serve, and I
can get the job done.
Speaker 12 (22:45):
I'd say, come to the fleet, come to the field,
comes to you. What the thousands of transgender service members
do every day in support of our nation's defense.
Speaker 9 (22:53):
Sounds like patriotism to me.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
But what do I know?
Speaker 9 (22:56):
I didn't serve because of closed.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
Grip or more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe
by searching The Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Watch The Daily Show weeknights at eleven.
Speaker 9 (23:10):
Ten Central on Comedy Central.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
And stream full episodes anytime on Paramount plus
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Paramount Podcasts
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