Jon Stewart got defensive about the backlash against his ambivalence toward Biden and Trump and appeared to try to appease the audience by going after Tucker Carlson.
Stewart responded to criticism of his dualism by saying: [bleep] to show! It was 20 minutes! I did one for about 20 minutes. [bleep] article! But I think, as the famous saying goes, democracy dies in debate. But behold, I have sinned against you; sorry! It was never my intention to say out loud what I saw with my eyes and brain.”
Anyone surprised by Stewart's ambivalence may not have been paying enough attention, as he started doing this towards the end of his first appearance on The Daily Show, and it has only gotten worse in the years since.
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The only problem is that The Daily Show's audience tends to be very liberal. So even though Stewart's return was a huge hit, drawing 1.9 million viewers, criticism came from Stewart's base audience, who were clearly shocked.
Stewart seemed to be trying to make peace with viewers by tearing down old enemy Tucker Carlson for an interview with President Putin. Stewart's premise was that he was learning from Carlson how to take power through the Putin interview.
Interestingly, there was no mention of the election or age jokes about Biden in this episode.
I'm not saying Stewart has backed off, but there was also a callback to CNN's Crossfire in 2004 where Stewart called Carlson a dick, which was a viral moment that made Stewart.
Stewart's return to The Daily Show is starting to sound a lot like Bill Maher's on Real Time. Times have changed, and comedians with a penchant for sarcasm are becoming increasingly distant on both sides.
Times have changed, and contrary to Comedy Central's advertising, I'm not sure Jon Stewart is the host we need in 2024.
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Jason is the editor-in-chief. He is also a member of the White House Correspondent and Congressional Correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. His graduate studies focused on public policy, specializing in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association.