Elon Musk and Donald Trump have been making waves with their aggressive approach to cutting government spending, but a resurfaced video of comedian Jon Stewart shows he might have been on the same page—at least when it comes to military expenses.
Musk and Trump Target Government Waste
Since the start of Trump’s second term, he and his so-called “First Buddy” Musk have been leading a new initiative to slash government waste through the Musk-headed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Their latest focus? The Pentagon and military spending.
During a White House press conference on Friday, Trump made it clear that Musk’s mission isn’t stopping anytime soon.
“I’ve instructed him to go check out Education, to check out the Pentagon, which is the military.
And sadly, you’ll find some things that are pretty bad,” Trump told reporters.
Jon Stewart Calls Out Pentagon Waste in 2023 Interview
While Trump supporters have been cheering on Musk’s efforts, they’ve also unearthed a 2023 interview where Jon Stewart, before his return to The Daily Show, pressed Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks on the Pentagon’s spending habits.
The conversation took place in Chicago, and Stewart didn’t hold back.
He challenged Hicks on “waste, fraud, and abuse” within the system and questioned why the Pentagon had repeatedly failed to pass an audit.
Hicks tried to separate the idea of an audit failure from actual financial mismanagement, but Stewart wasn’t buying it.
“The fact that the DoD has not passed an audit is not suggestive of waste, fraud, and abuse, that is completely false,” Hicks argued.
But Stewart pushed back: “So what is that suggestive of?”
Her response? The audit failures stemmed from an inability to track inventory properly, not from corruption.
Stewart wasn’t convinced. “If I give you a billion dollars and you can’t tell me what happened to it, that, to me, is wasteful,” he fired back.
The Pentagon’s Budget vs. Military Struggles
Stewart went further, pointing out the absurdity of an $850 billion budget that still left many rank-and-file soldiers struggling with food insecurity.
“We got out of 20 years of war, and the Pentagon got a $50 billion raise. That’s shocking to me!” he exclaimed.
At one point, Hicks seemed visibly frustrated, trying to steer the conversation away from budget numbers.
“I’m trying to understand where you’re trying to go, other than the dollars, which really bother you!” she said.
But Stewart wasn’t backing down. “I think it doesn’t really bother me—I think it’s all connected.”
The audience applauded when Stewart made his final point: “I may not understand the ins and outs of an audit, but I’m a human being who lives on this earth and can’t figure out how $850 billion goes to a department, yet the rank and file still have to be on food stamps. To me, that’s f***ing corruption.”
Social Media Reacts: Stewart Finds Unlikely Supporters
Stewart’s grilling of Hicks gained traction again as Musk and Trump ramp up their government-cutting agenda.
Surprisingly, even some conservatives who typically disagree with Stewart found themselves nodding in agreement.
“You may not always agree with Jon Stewart, but in this clip, he asked the former Deputy Secretary of Defense about how the Pentagon fails audits, and all she could do in response was gaslight him and redefine terms to dance around corruption,” one user wrote.
Another added: “I may not always agree with Jon Stewart on his ideological views (other than his love of animals!), but you can’t ever say the man is not intelligent.
He does have some common sense, as is witnessed right here.”
The Broader Crackdown on Government Spending
While Stewart’s video reignites debate over military spending, Musk and Trump’s efforts to trim down the government are already in motion.
The Pentagon has now failed seven audits in a row, unable to account for billions in public spending.
Beyond the military, Trump has also endorsed shutting down the Department of Education, signaling even more drastic cuts ahead.
Meanwhile, Musk’s DOGE has already ordered the USAID relief agency to be shut down by Friday, causing protests outside its headquarters.
As federal employees removed the agency’s signage, DOGE’s official social media account celebrated with a post showing the stripped-down building.
The caption? “Unburdened by what has been”—a not-so-subtle jab referencing a favorite phrase of former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
With government programs being slashed left and right, many are now asking: What’s next on Musk and Trump’s chopping block?
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