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Some Democrats aren’t happy with the ‘Daily Show’ host’s critique of the president’s age-related issues, and even the White House is weighing in.
By James Hibberd
Writer-at-Large
With his very first episode back, Jon Stewart has successfully returned The Daily Show to the cultural conversation — by drawing fire from Democrats.
Stewart’s return to Daily Show hosting duties Monday night opened with a 20-minute monologue going after Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Stewart especially mocked the current president after his disastrous press conference last week where Biden struggled to assure Americans that he was still cognitively capable of performing his duties.
Stewart seemed wholly aware his comments would lead to some left-side backlash, with correspondent Jordan Klepper asking Stewart on-air afterwards, “Did you save democracy yet with your ’90s brand of snark and both-siderism?”
And that’s precisely the sort of blowback that happened, with everyone from progressives to Elon Musk to the White House weighing in.
Podcast host Michael J. Elston tweeted, “If you’re a Democrat with high hopes about the return of Jon Stewart, save your excitement. The first half of his return was both-sides-ing the age issue. I bailed when we got to the guest who believes Biden should not have run for a 2nd term. Jon Stewart is not your friend.”
Chris D. Jackson, an election commissioner in Tennessee, tweeted, “Wow. So you basically say because Biden is old, he is basically as bad as Trump. Why th[e] F do we never learn in this country? Sorry, but I won’t be watching you either.”
Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann tweeted, “Well after nine years away, there’s nothing else to say to the bothsidesist fraud Jon Stewart bashing Biden, except: Please make it another nine years.”
A self-described Democratic activist tweeted, “Jon Stewart retired and came back as Bill Maher. I had a Jon Stewart for President shirt and rarely missed a show. So disappointing.” (And, yes, apparently Stewart being on Apple TV+ for his recent show The Problem is basically like being retired.)
Another Biden supporter wrote, “President Biden honored Jon Stewart for his work on the PACT Act at the bill signing ceremony, calling for a standing ovation. The Daily Show this is how you pay him back? What a cheap shot. I’ll never forgive you.”
Meanwhile, some Republicans gloated a bit, with Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt tweeting, “You know you’re in trouble when you’re a Democrat President and Jon Stewart turns on you.”
And Musk wrote, “balance and humor return!”
The White House was even asked to weigh in during Tuesday’s press briefing, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre being asked about Stewart’s criticism and whether they thought Biden’s recent press conference was, in retrospect, a good idea. During her remarks, Jean-Pierre revealed what many suspected — the press conference was entirely Biden’s idea.
“We believe that it was important for the American people to hear directly from this president in a very forceful way about what we thought about the special counsel report,” Jean-Pierre said (quote edited for clarity and brevity). “And not only that, but he took your questions, he stood there and took questions from all of you. We believe that’s important to do … and let’s not forget, the report said the case is closed. There’s nothing to prosecute. But also, the president is going to stand and defend himself. The way that report was characterized — it was not not just me saying this, but legal experts on both sides saying it — it was flatly wrong. It was gratuitous and it was inappropriate. And so the president’s going to defend himself. We believe he believe he did the right thing.”
During his monologue, Stewart had lamented about Biden and Trump, “These two candidates, they are both similarly challenged. And it is not crazy to think that the oldest people in the history of the country to ever run for president might have some of these challenges … We’re not suggesting neither man is vibrant, productive or even capable. But they’re both stretching the limits of being able to handle the toughest job in the world. What’s crazy is thinking that we’re the ones, as voters, who must silence concerns and criticisms. It is the candidates’ job to assuage concerns, not the voters’ job not to mention [them] … Look, Joe Biden isn’t Donald Trump. He hasn’t been indicted as many times, hasn’t had as many fraudulent businesses or been convicted in a civil trial for sexual assault or been ordered to pay defamation charges or stiffed blue-collar tradesmen … The stakes of this election don’t make Donald Trump’s opponent less subject to scrutiny. It actually makes him more subject to scrutiny. If the barbarians are at the gate, you want Conan standing on the ramparts, not chocolate chip cookie guy.”
In any case, Stewart’s return delivered big ratings for Comedy Central. The Daily Show viewership shot up to 1.85 million viewers, the biggest audience for the show in nearly six years.
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