In Ronny Chieng’s Daily Show monologue from Thursday night, the host valiantly breaks down the meme war running on both sides of U.S. government during the ongoing shutdown.
“For the Republicans and Democrats, the most important part of the shutdown is coming together and blaming the other side for it,” says Chieng in the video above. “President Trump has been posting AI videos of Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero, and now, unfortunately, Democrats are hitting back with their own videos.”
Cue a montage of social posts by Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rep. Steven Horsford, and Rep. Sarah McBride, the latter “searching” for Republicans in the empty Capitol.
“No Republicans here, because they all died from secondhand embarrassment,” says Chieng.
Stephen Colbert reacts to Trump’s AI-generated sombrero video, counters with JD Vance and a couch
The Daily Show host then examines the “Kitty Explains” meme posted by Democrats in which kittens, superimposed in front of the Capitol and the White House, blame the GOP for the shutdown.
“Wow, that was also not good,” says Chieng.
Ultimately, this meme war is a distraction from the government’s very real continuing shutdown and the roll-on effects beyond the Capitol, which Chieng also gets into with a cameo from The Daily Show‘s Michael Kosta — you should watch the whole segment, not just the memes.
