When compared to its network counterparts, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show is more likely to acknowledge that Democrats provide plenty of comedic material as evidenced by Tuesday’s show where Desi Lydic pretended to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s “holistic thought advisor” who is responsible for her various word salads. However, Wednesday’s show reverted back to the norm as Troy Iwata found the one man in America who is part of the Joe Biden personality cult, which naturally turned the show into a Biden 2024 commercial.
Lydic played the role of Dahlia Rose Hibiscus and introduced herself in some zen-like cave with some Harris-style ramblings, “My name is Dahlia Rose Hibiscus and I am vice president of Kamala Harris's holistic thought advisor. What is a holistic thought advisor? Well, it is holistic, yes? And I am advising. And what do we mean when we say that? It means that I am the one by whom the thoughts are being advised. From a place of advisement, and then once advised, communicated, holistically.”
She claimed, “It’s a process I call speaking without thinking. It's not about the destination of the thought. It's about the journey. And how many words you use to describe the journey.”
Lydic’s story was intertwined with clips of real examples of Harris’s brain wanderings and after one such example, she added, “Whenever the vice president gives a speech from her staff, the first thing I do is cut out all the words individually, and then I take those words to my word cave. That’s where I wait to learn what order of the universe wants them to be in. Words have vibrations. The feeling they give you is so much more powerful than what they mean.”
Concluding, Lydic added, “I hear the counterarguments all the time. People should be able to understand what their leaders are saying when they talk., but I prefer to leave Kamala's thoughts open to interpretation, like a work of modern art that you look at and go, ‘I wonder what that was all about.’”
While Lydic’s segment had a certain cleverness to it, it also did illustrate how the comedy shows generally make fun of Democrats. Democrats are mocked for being old or for their bloopers, but rarely for their liberalism. The Daily Show still exists to promote left-wing perspectives and Iwata’s segment the following day proved that.
On the surface, Iwata was joking about how unpopular Biden is and how strange it is that he was able to find Dakota Galban, Joe Biden’s number one fan. But beneath the surface, it was a chance to remind The Daily Show’s liberal audience to vote for him despite any potential misgivings they may have. Iwata asked, “Let's talk about the cardboard cutout. Why do you keep it in your trunk? Don't you want to see them in the morning and say, ‘what's up, Joe?’”
Galban, who is also the chairman of the Davidson County Democratic Party in Tennessee, claimed, “Well, my boyfriend isn't as-- he's less enthusiastic about having him watch us at all times.”
In a voiceover, Iwata wondered, “Okay, setting aside the question of whether the boyfriend was also a cardboard cutout, when did Dakota first realize he was Biden curious?”
Galban explained, “I was a senior in high school in 2012 and I had just come out of the closet and Joe Biden had announced his support for marriage equality… this man literally came out of retirement to save our country from white supremacists and fascism.”
After Iwata noted that Biden has managed to unite pro and anti-Israel protestors with “[bleep] Joe Biden” chants, Iwata hyped the inflation-causing “American Rescue Plan” as another Biden achievement, as well as “a bipartisan infrastructure act” and “the CHIPS and Science Act.”
Here are transcripts for the May 21 and 22 shows:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
5/21/2024
11:16 PM ET
DESI LYDIC [AS DAHLIA ROSE HIBISCUS]: My name is Dahlia Rose Hibiscus and I am vice president of Kamala Harris's holistic thought advisor. What is a holistic thought advisor? Well, it is holistic, yes? And I am advising. And what do we mean when we say that? It means that I am the one by whom the thoughts are being advised. From a place of advisement, and then once advised, communicated, holistically.
PRODUCER: Um, What?
LYDIC: You get it.
I lead the vice president on not so much sentences as idea voyages.
KAMALA HARRIS: You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.
LYDIC: It’s a process I call speaking without thinking. It's not about the destination of the thought. It's about the journey. And how many words you use to describe the journey.
HARRIS: That's on top of everything else that we know and don't know yet, based on what we just have been able to see, and because we have seen it or not, doesn't mean it hasn't happened.
LYDIC: Whenever the vice president gives a speech from her staff, the first thing I do is cut out all the words individually, and then I take those words to my word cave. That’s where I wait to learn what order of the universe wants them to be in. Words have vibrations. The feeling they give you is so much more powerful than what they mean.
HARRIS: We have the ability to see what can be, unburdened by what has been, and then to make the possible actually happen.
LYDIC: I hear the counter-arguments all the time. People should be able to understand what their leaders are saying when they talk., but I prefer to leave Kamala's thoughts open to interpretation, like a work of modern art that you look at and go, “I wonder what that was all about.”
HARRIS: See the moment in time in which we exist in our present and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history, and in the moment as it relates not only to the past, but the future.
***
5/22/2024
11:18 PM ET
TROY IWATA: Let's talk about the cardboard cutout. Why do you keep it in your trunk? Don't you want to see them in the morning and say, “what's up, Joe?”
DAKOTA GALBAN: Well, my boyfriend isn't as-- he's less enthusiastic.
IWATA: Oh, my god.
GALBAN: About having him watch us at all times.
IWATA: You have a boyfriend?
GALBAN: I do.
IWATA [VOICEOVER]: Okay, setting aside the question of whether the boyfriend was also a cardboard cutout, when did Dakota first realize he was Biden curious?
GALBAN: I was a senior in high school in 2012 and I had just come out of the closet and Joe Biden had announced his support for marriage equality.
IWATA: And you thought to yourself, he's a little young right now to be president but maybe in eight years, he'll be ready?
GALBAN: At the time, not so much, but this man literally came out of retirement to save our country from white supremacists and fascism.
IWATA: So, you like him more than when he was just Obama’s white friend?
GALBAN: Absolutely.
IWATA: Oh. [VOICEOVER]: That’s a strong endorsement at a time when Joe Biden is so unpopular that somehow, hating him is uniting pro-Israel.
PRO-ISRAEL PROTESTORS: [Bleep] Joe Biden.
IWATA [VOICEOVER]: And pro-Palestine protesters.
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTORS: [Bleep] Joe Biden.
IWATA: So what does Dakota see in this guy? [LIVE]: His swag, his whispery voice, what is left of his hair?
GALBAN: Mostly his policies. They’re so many to choose from.
IWATA: Really? See, I can't even think of any, so go off.
GALBAN: I would think when he came into office, he immediately got to work with the American Rescue Plan, he followed it up with a bipartisan infrastructure act, the CHIPS and Science Act.
IWATA: The Chips and Salsa Act?
GALBAN: The CHIPS and Science
IWATA: Oh, you know, maybe we need to make policy more fun.
GALBAN: I think you are right. There was his 80th birthday when he had all the candles on his cake.
