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John Stewart
Comedy Central
Jon Stewart returned to host The daily show on Monday, and within three minutes he was already going after Donald Trump, but also Joe Biden, taking a critical look at the president’s apparent age-related problems.
Announcing “Indecision 2024: Electrical Dysfunction,” Stewart dove right into special counsel Robert Hur’s report that exonerated President Biden for mishandling classified documents while seemingly torpedoing his re-election efforts with its harsh characterization of Biden. like an old man with a bad memory. Stewart showed clips of Trump and the former president’s family being deposed and also unable to remember some basic facts. “It turns out that the main cause of early-onset dementia is bowel movements,” Stewart said (monologue video below).
But then Stewart showed footage of Biden’s disastrous attempt at Friday’s news conference to assure Americans that he was still up to the world’s most important task. “So Joe Biden held a big press conference to dispel the idea that he may have lost a step and, politically speaking, he may have lost three or four steps…” and then noted: “(But) Trump regularly says things in the rallies than justify a welfare check.”
Stewart played a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris assuring that in closed-door meetings Biden is “smart… on his game… and above it all.” Stewart asked skeptically, “Did anyone film that? … It would be nice to show it to people.”
Stewart also played Biden’s debut TikTok video that was released this weekend, noting that the president declined to attend the traditional pre-Super Bowl interview. The video included the president making a comment about chocolate chip cookies, and Stewart joked, “How do you get on TikTok and end up looking like it?” older?”
“These two candidates face similar challenges,” Stewart stated. “And it’s not crazy to think that the oldest people in the history of the country who have ever run for president might have some of these challenges… We’re not suggesting that either of them are vibrant, productive or even capable . But both are pushing the limits of being able to do the hardest job in the world. What is crazy is to think that it is we, as voters, who should silence concerns and criticism. It’s the candidates’ job to calm concerns, not the voters’ job not to bring them up… We have two candidates who are chronologically outside the norm of anyone who has run for president in the history of this country, breaking the record. that they put!
Stewart, naturally, did not suggest that this meant that both candidates were equally flawed overall, and he was quick to dismiss many concerns about Trump. But, he argued, Trump’s threat to Democrats and democracy is all the more reason why his opponent should ideally be someone stronger than Biden.
“Look, Joe Biden is not Donald Trump,” he said. “He hasn’t been indicted as many times, had as many fraudulent businesses, been convicted in a civil trial of sexual assault, or ordered to pay defamation or rigid blue-collar trader charges…The stakes in This election will not make Donald Trump’s opponent less subject to scrutiny. He actually he does it further subject to scrutiny. “If the barbarians are at the gate, you want Conan (the Barbarian) standing on the walls, not the chocolate chip cookie guy.”
Stewart also criticized Biden’s description of Israel’s response to Hamas attacks as “overblown.” Stewart said: “Biden describes Israel’s relentless bombing of civilians the same way my mother talks about the Super Bowl halftime show.”
Comedy Central shocked daily program fans last month by announcing that Stewart would return to the late-night series as an executive producer and once-weekly host. For the non-Monday shows, which Stewart will help direct behind the scenes, The daily show will split hosting duties among his team of correspondents (including Jordan Klepper, Desi Lydic, Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta and Dulcé Sloan).
The move came after the collapse of Stewart’s partnership with Apple TV+, where he hosted the topical debate series, The problem with Jon Stewart.
Earlier Monday, Stewart explained to CBS Mornings his reason for returning to the show he previously hosted for 16 years.
“I really wanted to have a place to vent my thoughts as we approach this election season,” Stewart said. “I thought I was going to do it on… Apple TV+. … They decided, they felt like they didn’t want me to say things that would get me in trouble. … I don’t know about ‘hoping to have an influence,’ but I hope to have a catharsis and a way of commenting on things and a way of expressing things that I hope people enjoy.”
Stewart’s rehiring helps shore up The daily show during what is sure to be a tumultuous election year. The show’s last full-time host, Trevor Noah, unexpectedly resigned in 2022 after seven years behind the desk.