Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week, Desi Lyric, had a rough Tuesday. On one hand, she gushed over the reaction of the Iranian and Cuban delegations to President Trump’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly. On the other, she later welcomed singer Tom Morello to promote his new album that he claimed will help “serve as a bulwark against the rising tide of authoritarianism” in the Trump era.
During her monologue, Lydic played a part of Trump’s speech where he wondered, “Do I annihilate the Islamic Republic?... Do I dry them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope?”
The Daily Show's Desi Lydic hypes Iran and Cuba's reaction to Trump's UN speech, "I have never seen someone so unbothered by the threat of annihilation. Trump is ranting about destroying his country and this man doesn't even look like he's paying attention. Imagine what he must… pic.twitter.com/yr6CuQZTJX
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 23, 2026
It is interesting that the part of Trump’s speech represented by the ellipse that Lydic cut out included “never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again.”
Playing that part of the speech would ruin Lydic’s ability to hype the Iranian delegation’s response to Trump. As Lydic put up a picture of an expressionless Iranian diplomat, she hyped, “I have never seen someone so unbothered by the threat of annihilation. Trump is ranting about destroying his country, and this man doesn't even look like he's paying attention. Imagine what he must be thinking.”
After showing the man daydreaming about a pony, Lydic moved onto Cuba, “And Iran is not the only one tired of the Trump schtick. Look at how Cuba reacted to his threats.”
In another clip, Trump was shown declaring, “It's failing like never before. And it will fall. Marco Rubio is handling a negotiation. He is deep into negotiations with Cuba. Let's see what happens. We'll not allow a haven for foreign emissaries to threaten America.”
The video showed the Cuban delegation walking out, which was accompanied by cheers from the studio audience. Lydic also got in on the applause, “They just walked out! I mean, do you know how embarrassing it is for somebody to walk out while you are threatening them? Trump was like, you want to go, and they were like, ‘Yeah, I do, I'm very bored. I do.’”
Lydic’s cheerful embrace of the terrorist-supporting Islamic theocracy and communist dictatorships made for a twisted conversation later in the show with Morello. At one point, Lydic wondered, “When you were writing this and playing on this, did you envision a particular audience that you are writing for?”
So, despite gushing over two authoritarian governments, Lydic also welcomed Tom Morello to promote his new album and he says "I've always gone to the beat of my own drum but I wanted to make the heaviest record I've made since the first Rage Against the Machine record. But also,… pic.twitter.com/0icfDd5th9
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 23, 2026
Morello declared, “I've always gone to the beat of my own drum, but I wanted to make the heaviest record I've made since the first Rage Against the Machine record. But also, this is a record that it's like—it's rebellion as self-care in these troubled times, and it's also music as resistance in a time—first of all, every act of art now is an active resistance. Every truth spoken—every truth spoken is a glimmering of light in the gathering of darkness, and every riff rocked can serve as a bulwark against the rising tide of authoritarianism. That's what this record is.”
Thankfully, it is not true that every act of art is an exercise in left-wing politics, but when you join with Cuba and Iran, your idea of “self-care” needs some reevaluating.
Here is a transcript for the September 22 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
9/22/2026
11:09 PM ET
DESI LYDIC: I have never seen someone so unbothered by the threat of annihilation. Trump is ranting about destroying his country, and this man doesn't even look like he's paying attention. Imagine what he must be thinking. What are the odds! And Iran is not the only one tired of the Trump schtick. Look at how Cuba reacted to his threats.
DONALD TRUMP: It's failing like never before. And it will fall. Marco Rubio is handling a negotiation. He is deep into negotiations with Cuba. Let's see what happens. We'll not allow a haven for foreign emissaries to threaten America.
LYDIC: They just walked out! I mean, do you know how embarrassing it is for somebody to walk out while you are threatening them? Trump was like, you want to go, and they were like, “Yeah, I do, I'm very bored. I do.”
…
LYDIC: When you were writing this and playing on this, did you envision a particular audience that you are writing for?
TOM MORELLO: I've always gone to the beat of my own drum, but I wanted to make the heaviest record I've made since the first Rage Against the Machine record. But also, this is a record that it's like — it's rebellion as self-care in these troubled times, and it's also music as resistance in a time—first of all, every act of art now is an active resistance. Every truth spoken—every truth spoken is a glimmering of light in the gathering of darkness, and every riff rocked can serve as a bulwark against the rising tide of authoritarianism. That's what this record is.
