Comedy Central's The Daily Show host of the week, Jordan Klepper, was the only one of the late night comedy hosts to discuss the Wednesday report from The New York Times that Alaska Democrats did, in fact, recruit a random guy named Dan Sullivan to challenge incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan in order to confuse voters in the state’s ranked choice voting system. Klepper admitted to not being a fan of the move but also claimed it was “the kind of shit that Mitch McConnell” would pull even though McConnell never did any such thing.
Klepper introduced a clip of CNN’s Dana Bash by sarcastically declaring, “Just because there's a guy running with the same name as a Republican senator doesn't mean the Democrats recruited him to confuse voters.”
After the clip of Bash confirming that is exactly what happened, Klepper continued, “Holy shit! It was the Democrats! That is dirty as [bleep]! I mean, that's the kind of shit that Mitch McConnell would come up with back before he was 90 percent minivan. So tell me more. Tell me more about this devious scheme.”
Following some more news clips, Klepper continued, “Wow, Democrats! Democrats, instead of devoting their energy to coming up with an effective platform that attracts voters, they said, ‘[bleep] It, let's just scour the Arctic looking for Dans.’ They're out there defrosting cavemen from glaciers like, ‘Is your name Dan? Is your name Dan?’"
Later, Klepper concluded by alluding to a story he talked about earlier involving a GOP congressional candidate blaming his unsolicited nude photo scandal on a “youthful indiscretion,” despite being 53 at the time, “Now, look, I will say, if you ask me, this is bad news and not how our election should work. Democracy should be won on a battle of ideas, not on trying to trick voters. But you know what? Maybe we do have to cut Mary Peltola some slack. She is only 53 years old. Let's chalk this up to a youthful indiscretion.”
It is nice that Klepper was able to condemn the move, which is more than the other comedy shows have managed to do, but the idea it is comparable to anything Mitch McConnell ever did is ridiculous. McConnell once refused to allow a vote on Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court and then eliminated the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations after Democrats previously eliminated it for lower-level judicial nominees. Alaska Democrats tried to pass off a No Kings liberal protestor as a Republican. These are not the same.
Here is a transcript for the October 28 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
10/28/2026
11:06 PM ET
JORDAN KLEPPER: Just because there's a guy running with the same name as a Republican senator doesn't mean the Democrats recruited him to confuse voters.
DANA BASH: The New York Times is reporting that it was, in fact, Democrats who recruited the other Dan Sullivan into that Senate race.
KLEPPER: Holy shit! It was the Democrats! That is dirty as [bleep]! I mean, that's the kind of shit that Mitch McConnell would come up with back before he was 90 percent minivan. So tell me more. Tell me more about this devious scheme.
BASH: A Peltola staffer “received unusual instructions from top campaign aides: Find as many people named Dan Sullivan in Alaska as you can.”
REPORTER: According to The Times, the campaign found their man in, quote, "A tiny fishing village along the Alaska panhandle, reachable only by air and sea."
KLEPPER: Wow, Democrats! Democrats, instead of devoting their energy to coming up with an effective platform that attracts voters, they said, "[bleep] It, let's just scour the Arctic looking for Dans." They're out there defrosting cavemen from glaciers like, "Is your name Dan? Is your name Dan?"
…
KLEPPER: Now, look, I will say, if you ask me, this is bad news and not how our election should work. Democracy should be won on a battle of ideas, not on trying to trick voters. But you know what? Maybe we do have to cut Mary Peltola some slack. She is only 53 years old. Let's chalk this up to a youthful indiscretion.
