During Wednesday’s episode of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Jordan Klepper showed his most recent man-on-the-street experience designed to make Trump supporters look dumb. This time Klepper and his interviewees were looking ahead to the UFC fight at the White House, which Klepper used to compare Trump to the infamous Roman emperors Nero and Caligula.
In a voiceover, Klepper declared, “Of course, there is a very real historical precedent to spectacles like this.”
One man said of the UFC fight, “Kinda going back to gladiators. It feels gladiatorial,” while a second echoed the sentiment, “The Romans loved it and the Greeks loved it. Everybody loves some kind of gladiator.”
Jordan Klepper did one of his man-on-the-street bits before the White House UFC fight and wondered "So, which emperor is Trump? Is he, like, Nero?" and "He might be like Caligula... Caligula tried to get his horse voted into the Senate, I believe." pic.twitter.com/ZUbJaaquIN
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) June 18, 2026
Klepper then tried to set up a third man, “Is it, sort of, like our Colosseum? Like, we all come together—” After the man claimed that was a valid way of looking at it, Klepper started his dive into Roman analogies, “The emperor is giving us bread and circus.”
Unfortunately, the man gave Klepper the soundbite he wanted by simply replying, “Yup.” Klepper then elaborated, “Yeah. Yeah. Or Monster drinks and circus.”
“Bread and circus” is meant to be an insult on how authoritarian leaders distract the public with spectacles and amusement while citizens stop caring about more pressing matters. Klepper and other late night shows that do man-on-the-street interviews do not do so because they are looking to have scholarly conversations. They cherry-pick what they think are the dumbest soundbites and then use those to paint tens of millions of people as stupid.
Now interviewing a fourth man, Klepper continued his Roman resemblances, “So, which emperor is Trump? Is he, like, Nero?”
From Nero, we get the saying of “fiddling while Rome burns.” Nero blamed the Great Fire on Christians, which led to brutal persecutions where simply being a Christian was a capital offense.
After Man #4 went off on a Star Wars tangent, Klepper returned to Man #1, “He might be like Caligula.”
The man regrettably answered, “It’s true.” That allowed Klepped to add, “Caligula tried to get his horse voted into the Senate, I believe. I mean, Trump tried to get Markwayne Mullin in there. So, maybe that is not a fair comparison. I have seen horses count, so that's not a fair comparison.”
Caligula was also a paranoid and murderous dictator. As for the sports themselves, the main difference between the UFC and ancient gladiatorial fights is, of course, that UFC fights are not to the death and the UFC fight was a one-time occasion. Klepper is well within his rights to not be a combat sports fan, but comparisons to Nero and Caligula are wildly out of proportion to what actually happened on Sunday.
Here is a transcript for the June 17 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
6/17/2026
11:18 PM ET
JORDAN KLEPPER: Of course, there is a very real historical precedent to spectacles like this.
MAN 1: Kinda going back to gladiators.
KLEPPER: It does—
MAN 1: It feels gladiatorial.
MAN 2: The Romans loved it and the Greeks loved it. Everybody loves some kind of gladiator.
KLEPPER: Is it, sort of, like our Colosseum? Like, we all come together—
MAN 3: I didn’t think of it that way, but yeah. Yes. Yeah.
KLEPPER: The emperor is giving us bread and circus.
MAN 3: Yup.
KLEPPER: Yeah. Yeah. Or Monster drinks and circus.
MAN 3: Yeah.
KLEPPER: So, which emperor is Trump? Is he, like, Nero?
MAN 4: Bro, he's like Anakin Skywalker, not like Darth Vader.
KLEPPER: Not like Darth Vader.
MAN 4: No.
KLEPPER: Anakin, he had authoritarian leanings, right?
MAN 4: Yeah, yeah. Get some power, and, you know—you know how to use it. You know, with great power comes great responsibility.
KLEPPER: Hell yeah, that is exactly what Spider-Man said.
He might be like Caligula.
MAN 1: It’s true.
KLEPPER: Caligula tried to get his horse voted into the Senate, I believe.
MAN 1: Did he really?
KLEPPER: I mean, Trump tried to get Markwayne Mullin in there. So, maybe that is not a fair comparison. I have seen horses count, so that's not a fair comparison.
