Transcript

Klepper on Trump's Tylenol Tirade and Elon's DOGE-baggery | The Daily Show

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· 25 min · 3,654 words · 53 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Klepper on Trump's Tylenol Tirade and Elon's DOGE-baggery | The Daily Show", an episode of The Daily Show published January 2, 2026 (25 min, about 3,654 words). It mentions 22 people, works and ideas, including DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Sean Duffy, Acetaminophen, Donald Trump, Amish.

What this episode is about

The discussion highlights a surprising shift in Donald Trump's stance on TikTok, revealing his previously unfounded claims of winning the youth vote while emphasizing the app's significance in his electoral strategy. As concerns about a potential TikTok ban loom, users are migrating to alternative Chinese apps, raising questions about America's attitudes toward privacy and data security amidst ongoing frustrations with government oversight.

Key takeaways

  • Trump flip-flops on TikTok: from banning it to basking in its election 'success'.
  • TikTok ban woes: Americans trade privacy for communist-endorsed cat videos.
  • RedNote rises: ironically promotes Chinese culture as U.S. flocks for cheap corn.
  • Elon Musk's bureaucratic paradox: slashing taxpayer programs while acting as unelected, transparent 'hero'.
  • American democracy: Musk critiques unelected officials, yet leads like unaudited space cowboy.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Chinese Constitution, RedNote
  2. – 10:00: Bureaucracy
  3. – 15:00: Sean Duffy, Acetaminophen, Boeing, Sean Spicer
  4. – 20:00: Acetaminophen
  5. – 24:36: Donald Trump, CrossFit

Notable quotes from "Klepper on Trump's Tylenol Tirade and Elon's DOGE-baggery | The Daily Show"

  • Is up in the air, but Tik Tok users are not waiting around to find out how this is going to play out amid fear a Tik Tok ban could take effect later this week. Some Americans…
    about RedNote · at
  • Cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives in the form of the president and the senate and the house, then we don't live in a democracy. We…
    about Bureaucracy · at
  • With fire. You don't have a chance. The tree comes down. Also, by the way, it's so intense. the you see these trees being knocked down like they're being soared down by a top-of-the-line timberman like you know who Sean Duffy.
    about Sean Duffy · at
  • He's a great Sean. WE'RE JUST RANKING SHAWN'S NOW. YOU GOT SEAN HANNITY, SEAN SPICER, Sean of the Dead, Shawn the Rhymes. AT THIS POINT, EVERYONE in the room was probably Can we just give you our bribe and go home?
    about Sean Spicer · at
  • First, effective immediately, the FDA will be notifying physicians that the use of said, well, let's see how we say that acetaminophen.
    about Acetaminophen · at
  • Today, Donald Trump announced a major deal to drastically cut the price of Ozic and other weight loss drugs. It's all part of his campaign promise and his one consistent…
    about Donald Trump · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Companies & orgs

Concepts & topics

Full transcript with timestamps

Now, he tried to ban Tik Tok during his first term, but he's now trying to save the app. And you'll you'll never guess why he had a change of heart.

I have a warm spot in my heart for Tik Tok because I won youth by 34 points. And there are those that say that Tik Tok had something to do with that. I was on Tik Tok for the election and I won the young people by 36 points. I'm not opposed to Tik Tok.

That's right. Tik Tok helped Trump. So now Tik Tok is good. And by the way, if you're if you're wondering whether Trump won the youth vote by 34 points or 36 points, the answer is he lost the youth vote by 11 points. Slight just a slight discrepancy right there.

basically the same thing. So, all this is up in the air, but Tik Tok users are not waiting around to find out how this is going to play out

amid fear a Tik Tok ban could take effect later this week. Some Americans flocking to Chinese apps like RedNote.

I'm a Tik Tok refugee and Lemon 8. Both apps have similarities to Tik Tok and Lemon 8 shares a parent company, Bite Dance. Rednote is owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party, and users must agree to adhere to the Chinese Constitution, practice socialist values, and promote the traditional culture of China.

YEAH, GOOD JOB, US GOVERNMENT. You told America they couldn't see China anymore, and now they're running off to Vegas with it. I mean, this has got to be so frustrating for Kamla. She just spent a whole election fighting accusations that she's a socialist and now every American is like I would literally pledge to be a Chinese socialist for a good Tik Tok replacement. The question is why would Americans be so cavalier about the threat of China spying? Maybe it's because after years of receiving monthly emails about how every American company has lost or stolen our data, we become cynical about the concept of privacy. Or maybe we actually get off on knowing China is spying on us the whole time. Maybe it's gotten so bad I can't even enjoy a cat video anymore unless I know Xi Jinping is watching me from some digital cuck chair in the corner. So, looks like this new app, Red Note, is exploding. And the last time something from China went this viral was it's not important.

When do you see what people are discovering once they're on it? One thing that I've noticed since being on Red Node for like the last two days is how much [clears throat] more advanced the Chinese culture is than what I had in my brain. Most of these Chinese people, they look so much less traumatized than most Americans. I am no longer convinced that we are living in a first world country. While lurking on Red Note, I found out about this car. We can't sell this car because it's Chinese. Look how cute it is. They sell in pink. It's like $15,000, which is affordable.

I made a new bestie. She ended up going to the market and sent me a picture of her local market. Corn on the cob. 94. What would it be here in America, you might ask? $7. Is this what they don't want us to know?

That's not a good sign for America. I was made to think a communist dictator was bad. But check out these corn prices. Daddy likey. Come on, America. Fight back. If Chinese people show you their cheap corn, you show them our robust free press. Okay. No. Okay. Or you show them our fair and impartial justices. Not that. Okay. Dave busters. Show them our Dave and Busters. Hell yeah. In your commie faces. Elon Musk is now in charge of all government hilings. Hirs. Hirs. I sorry I didn't say that right. Right. I didn't say it right. Yeah. Okay. OKAY.

I don't know why I keep Hitler misspeaking. I I don't know why I keep misspeaking. So, this was already a pretty unusual thing for president to do. But Trump being Trump, he had to make it even more ridiculous by introducing it with a fullon circus act in the Oval Office. And look at this scene. Musk is holding court with his hands tented like a Bond villain, probably to stop him from doing a Nazi salute with his with his four-year-old child in tow. I mean, that poor kid. His dad literally runs SpaceX and Elon took him to a meeting on federal spending.

Dad, are we going to get to see the rockets? No, son. We're going to discuss budgets because I'm a shitty dad. I mean, everything about this event was so bizarre. Trump was was sitting quietly for half an hour, retreating to his happy place, thinking about Arnold Palmer's giant Doge. And I mean, and who thought cloning Steven Miller was a good idea? I mean, is it for spare parts? I mean, they look like a before and even more before picture.

OKAY. OKAY. But all right. Leaving aside this Renaissance painting done by the dogs playing poker guy, it's good that we have Elon Musk here because we've been watching him slashing programs and shuttering agencies for a month now. And we can finally ask Elon, why are you doing this? If the people cannot vote and have their will be decided by their elected representatives in the in the form of the president and and the senate and the house, then we don't live in a democracy. We live in a bureaucracy. So, it's incredibly important that the president, the house, and the senate decide what happens as opposed to a large unelected bureaucracy.

Wow. What? Wow. I I mean, you see why this guy's a genius. You don't want an unelected bureaucrat running the country. It makes a lot of sense. No questions here. I DO HAVE ONE QUESTION THOUGH.

Isn't that you? I mean I mean AM I am I going crazy? Cuz it feels like I'm watching Drake sing not like us at karaoke. Like, does does he not know is having this one unaccountable bureaucrat in charge better than having those other unaccountable bureaucrats in charge? Because because at least the others have to follow transparency laws. The only thing transparent about Doge is Elon's skin. I mean, his financial disclosure is being kept secret. Doge is exempt from open records laws. And when someone on Twitter merely identified some of the people who work for Doge, Elon suspended their account and said, "You have committed a crime," which we tried to fact check with career officials at the FBI, but they're all working out of Panera now. So Elon, I got to tell you, I don't think you're being that transparent.

So all of our actions are are maximally transparent. In fact, I don't think there's been I I don't know of a case where where an organization has been more transparent than the Doge organization. And and and I fully expect to be scrutinized and get, you know, a daily proctologology exam.

Oh, well, I did the exam and what an You know what? I I don't want to give you a proctology exam. I just want to know what you're doing because another advantage of federal bureaucrats is that they can't have conflicts of interest. Whereas you seem to have every conflict of interest. Space X has government contracts. Tesla is under government oversight. X is under government investigation. And his hair plugs are being investigated by the department of no one's buying this. You're basically a walking conflict of interest. Is that not a huge problem? Well, all of our actions are are fully public. So, if you see anything, you say like, "Wait a second. Hey, Elon, that doesn't that seems like maybe that's, you know, there's a conflict there." I It's I don't like people are going to be shy about saying that. They'll say it immediately, you know. [clears throat] [screaming] GOOD. OKAY. IF WE SEE A

CONFLICT, we just need to say something. Hey, Elon, I KNOW THERE'S A CONFLICT. GO.

DID THAT WORK? NO. NO. Nothing happened. THERE'S NO ACCOUNTABILITY AND NOTHING MATTERS. GREAT. Perfect system. So, the main event of the day was a round table with some of America's top defense contractors. A chance for Trump to be focused on selling American goods. So, make that sales pitch and bring it home. We're coming up with a new system of drones because drones are really, if you look at the war that's going on, it's horrible. When you look at what's happening with Russia and Ukraine, the drone is killing tremendous numbers of people. You hide behind a tree and the drone comes down and it circles you with with fire. You don't have a chance. The tree comes down. Also, by the way, it's so intense. the I mean, you see these trees being knocked down like like they're being soared down by a top-of-the-line uh timberman like like you know who Sean Duffy.

Okay. Uh okay. This was about drones. Uh we're getting off track here. Not about trees or the timber man. So let's let's get back to the drones and forget about Shawn Duffy. Do you know that Sean Duffy, the head of the transportation department, who's working right now on the airports and getting a system because Biden didn't do a thing for four years?

Okay, airports. Joe Biden. Oh I know what's about to happen. Okay, everyone stay calm. We're entering a weave.

Okay. All right. All right. The weave. Buckle up, everyone. [screaming] The man's been up for four days. This is a jet lag weave. All right, this could get bumpy.

Biden didn't do a thing for four years. And Pete Budage was the head and he goes bicycling to work. He takes a bicycle to work. Can you believe he's he's running the biggest air system in the world and he takes a bicycle to work.

So So Pete Buddha Jud should have TAKEN A PLANE TO WORK. IS THAT WHAT I'm overthinking it? I'm over. It's a weave. You got to steer into the spin.

What a And and they say he's going to run for president. I don't see it. Who knows, right? But I don't see it.

Have you ever been in a corn maze and you just can't find your way out? Okay. Yeah. Okay. All right. All right. All right. Buddha Judge for for president. I mean, who knows? Probably not worth speculating about with a bunch of Middle East businessmen. Can we just get back to what we were talking about?

But but what people don't know about Sean, cuz I mentioned lumberjacks. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO. WASN'T ABOUT LUMBERJACKS. NOT ABOUT LUMBERJACKS. OKAY. You were talking about drones. Forget about the lumberjacks.

I mentioned lumberjacks that John, you probably didn't know this that I'm not talking about this Sean. This Sean. No, not this is not. This is a different Sean. Sean Duffy, the head of transportation. He's a great Sean though, I have to tell you.

He's a great Sean. WE'RE JUST RANKING SHAWN'S NOW. YOU GOT SEAN HANNITY, SEAN SPICER, Sean of the Dead, Shawn the Rhymes. AT THIS POINT, EVERYONE in the room was probably like, "Can we just give you our bribe and go home?" Mr. President, look. No. No. Believe. No. I believe I believe. I believe. Mr. President, I believe in you. You can find your way back to the drones. Take us home, Donnie.

He's a great Sean, though, I have to tell you. But Sean Duffy was the world champion for 5 years, climbing trees and down, up and down. World champion. So that's what you call a serious lumberjack. He's doing a fantastic job too. Really respected guy and terrific guy. The champion because when somebody's a champion, he's the world champion. long time he came down. When you come down those trees coming down at at a rapid, he said that started getting you back. Often break your back. You miss a you miss a shot and you're coming faster than the human body was meant to come down. But he's doing a fantastic job at transportation.

Look at those faces. This man right here is a Boeing executive. His planes fall out of the sky and he's sitting here like, "Now this is a disaster." Can Can you Can you imagine the translator at this event listening to all of this Like uh uh he said he loves it here. Now, we've known for a while that this administration has wanted to blame autism on vaccines, but yesterday's big announcement came with a plot twist.

First, uh, effective immediately, the FDA will be notifying physicians that the use of said, well, let's see how we say that acetaminophen acetaminophen. Is that okay? which is basically commonly known as Tylenol.

Tylenol. At least you finished strong. Now, I don't want to suggest there's been some disconcerting cognitive decline, but back in 2020, that mofo could spit out hydroxychloroquin, no problem. So, everyone was waiting for Trump to blame autism on vaccines, but he zagged and blamed Tylenol, which is especially strange because nearly all health officials say there's no causal link between acetaminophen and autism. However, Trump has his own recommendation.

Tylenol during pregnancy can be associated with a very increased risk of autism. So, taking Tylenol is uh not good. Don't take Tylenol. Don't have your baby take Tylenol. Don't take Tylenol. There's no downside. Don't take it. Don't take Tylenol. But with Tylenol, don't take it. Nothing bad can happen. It can only good happen. Ask your doctor if it can only good happen for you.

Trump is so pissed at Tylenol, he's going to start bombing the pain reliever aisles at Walgreens. Jokes on you, Trump. Even missiles can't get through that plexiglass. You're going to have to ring the customer service button like the rest of us. You can tell Trump doesn't understand what a woman goes through during pregnancy. But as a dad who didn't miss a single appointment, it's not true that only good can happen if you don't take Tylenol. Not treating a pregnant woman's fever could cause irreparable harm before the baby comes out of her butt. Read a parenting book, Trump. And Trump wasn't just playing fast and loose with the acetaminophen. He made sure to throw some antivax classics in there, too. And by the way, I think I can say that there are certain groups of people that don't take vaccines and don't take any pills that have no autism.

That have no autism. Does that tell you something? That's currently Is that a correct statement, by the way? No. But you you had fun out there and that's all that matters. But, you know, for the future, typically a president should check something before announcing it to the nation. I mean, this is literally how they fact check on the Joe Rogan experience. If you HAVE SEX IN SPACE, YOUR DICK WILL ACTUALLY EXPLODE BECAUSE OF GRAVITY STUFF. IS THAT A correct statement?

So, as we wait for the fact check, let's uh let's hear some of the data you've collected. You have certain groups, the Amish as an example, they have essentially no autism. They doesn't exist with the Amish community. And they don't take all of this junk. Uh it doesn't exist. Yeah. Are the Amish the the best control group for this? So based on the Amish, the cure for autism could either be not taking Tylenol or being scared of a Roomba. The president was joined by the first lady today as he made his big address at the United Nations. But they had a bit of trouble on the way. They were taking an escalator when it stopped working, leaving the first couple no other choice but to walk the rest of the way up.

Yeah. I I like how he's just looking around when it broke, thinking, "Do I walk up these 15 stairs, or do I just live here now?" But hey, this is a pretty standard inconvenience. I'm sure we will never hear about it again. Unless, of course, there's an entire right-wing media apparatus built on grievance and hyperbole that wants to breathlessly recount it as a heroine brush with danger. Trump and Melania were riding it up and it just stopped. The first lady lost her balance a bit but steadied herself thankfully and then marched to the top. She could have been hurt.

It came to a grinding halt and you can even see them kind of slightly lurching forward.

This is serious stuff. It's sitting ducks if god forbid there was a security threat. They could have hurt the most beautiful first lady in American history.

Oh my god, you monsters. We're not talking about some ugo Elanor Roosevelt here. No, you could HAVE HURT SOMEONE HOT. IT'S A GOOD THING Melania is in such good shape. And it's it's a good thing Trump's ankles are the size of car tires. You all laughed at his cankles, but guess who's sturdy as a redwood? This cankle heaven mother. Now, the UN released a statement saying somebody at the top of the escalator inadvertently triggered a safety mechanism. So, it seems like the whole thing is just a a silly coincidence. Coincidence or sabotage? It doesn't look like a coincidence to me.

Something more nefarious happening than just simple technical glitches. Absolute sabotage.

I've been c caught on like five elevators in my life. An escalator has never stopped working mid escalation.

I find it bizarre that just coincidentally all these things just don't happen to work for the president when they work for everybody else.

ARE WE REALLY DOING THIS? ARE WE GOING all in on the president being a victim of escalator sabotage because the deep state wants him to get his steps in? Can we just have a day? People, I will admit it's a little suspicious that the escalator just happened to break for Trump. But on the other hand, things do break a lot around him. You know, I pay all this money to teleprompter people and I'd say 20% of the time they don't work. They don't work.

And I apologize for those lights. The only place I don't have a lights up here.

I feel like I'm I'm in a sauna. So, I don't know what hotel this is, but you ought to try turning on the air conditioning. I think this mic stinks, by the way.

So, maybe it's not a coincidence. I mean, why does everything around Trump break? Is he Is he being followed around by gremlins? Is that okay? Yeah. Maybe maybe that actually that that that could be that that might be it. That might be it. Today, Donald Trump announced a major deal to drastically cut the price of Ozic and other weight loss drugs. It's all part of his campaign promise and his one consistent principle of no fatties. He made the announcement at the Oval Office today in an event that turned into a major HIPPA violation.

Secretary Howard Lutnik, do you take any of this stuff, Howard? I have. Okay, good. CMS administrator measier, head of public relations for the White House. He's taking it.

Steve, he's on Ompic. Told his wife he's been doing CrossFit in the garage, but nope, it's Ompic. Steve's got to be careful, though, because I heard Ozic interacts with Sealis, which Steve is also on. You know what? Joking aside, obesity is a serious issue, so this could be a benefit. Dr. Oz, you're a doctor theoretically. Uh, give us a reasonable expectation of success here,

Mr. Mr. President, our estimate based on the company numbers as well is Americans will lose 135 billion pounds by the midterms. Whoa. 135 billion pounds by the midterms. Why the midterms? Did they add a swimsuit competition to those? Look, I'm no mathematician, but 135 billion pounds divided by 340 million Americans means we each have to lose 400 lb by the midterms. Look, and I know that sounds like a lot, but remember that's just the average. Some people only lose 300 lb while other people will lose 500 lb. Some of us will lose no pounds at all, which will be offset by everyone losing 800 lb.

The point is, regardless of how much you lose, Donald Trump will be tracking it and announcing your personal results at a press conference. And by the way, another crazy thing that happened at this health conference is that someone had a health emergency. He passed out. They attended to him. He's fine. But I only bring it up because it resulted in one of the greatest images of the Trump presidency.

LOOK AT THIS. Everyone is attending to this guy. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is zoned out like he's in a a marriage counseling session.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Klepper on Trump's Tylenol Tirade and Elon's DOGE-baggery | The Daily Show"?

Jordan Klepper (Host), Donald Trump (Guest), Elon Musk (Guest), Dr. Mehmet Oz (Guest), Unidentified news narrator (TikTok/RedNote segment) (Guest), Unidentified social media users (RedNote reactions) (Guest), Unidentified right-wing TV commentators (escalator segment) (Guest).

What is "Klepper on Trump's Tylenol Tirade and Elon's DOGE-baggery | The Daily Show" about?

The discussion highlights a surprising shift in Donald Trump's stance on TikTok, revealing his previously unfounded claims of winning the youth vote while emphasizing the app's significance in his electoral strategy. As concerns about a potential TikTok ban loom, users are migrating to alternative Chinese apps, raising questions about America's attitudes toward privacy and data security amidst…

What is mentioned in this The Daily Show episode?

22 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Sean Duffy, Acetaminophen, Donald Trump, Amish, Dave & Buster's. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Klepper on Trump's Tylenol Tirade and Elon's DOGE-baggery | The Daily Show"?

The episode runs 25 min; the transcript is about 3,654 words in 53 timestamped sections.

More from The Daily Show

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.