Jon Stewart’s long-awaited return to “The Daily Show” sparked anger among left-leaning viewers after he spent much of the show questioning President Joe Biden’s mental state.
To begin his return from a nine-year hiatus, Stewart took aim at the 81-year-old Biden on Monday within three minutes of his Comedy Central show’s 11 p.m.
Stewart, 61, quipped that Biden should “fire everyone” after his recent TikTok debut, said Biden “looks old” and criticized Biden after bizarre remarks in his inaugural address. A video calling him a “chocolate chip cookie guy.”
Stewart also showed no mercy for 77-year-old Donald Trump, playing footage of the former president saying “I don’t remember” at multiple events and saying, “The main cause of dementia is being forced out of office. ” he added.
Stewart, who plans to return part-time during the campaign, dubbed the upcoming term “Indecisive 2024: Electoral Dysfunction” and called the two leading presidential candidates “in a difficult position due to their age.”
“And it’s not crazy to think that the oldest people to ever run for president in the history of this country might have some of these challenges,” Stewart added. .
The comedian cited Biden’s disastrous press conference last week in which he confused incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron with former leader Francois Mitterrand, who died nearly 30 years ago.
Viewers who had celebrated Stewart’s return as the return of an impartial political commentator were unimpressed by the comic’s 20-minute take-no-prisoners monologue.
One user said: “It seems like a lot of people who were overjoyed to see Jon Stewart back are now completely pissed at him.” I have written To X.
“Jon Stewart complaining that 2024 is ‘two old men’ again is like me complaining that it’s ‘two white people’ again. That’s beside the point. and minimizing risk,” said another. Said.
“And lazy humor at best.” another There was a chime.
On Monday’s “Daily Show,” Stewart made it clear to a traditionally liberal audience that he doesn’t think Biden and Trump are equally bad, but he does have similar opinions about his rival’s mental sharpness. criticized.
“These two candidates both have similar challenges,” Stewart said.
However, viewers still believed Stewart was portraying the candidates as “just as bad.”
“Jon Stewart still has it in terms of being funny and funny, but the political content of this monologue is basically a New York Times op-ed page in television format,” says independent political journalist Aaron Looper. I have written “In fact, neither side is equally bad!”
Stewart’s return to the Comedy Central show comes after Trevor Noah stepped down in 2022 after hosting the news show for seven years, during which time Stewart hosted from 1999 to 2015. It was struggling to achieve the huge viewer ratings that it had in the past.
In the year since, the network has not been able to find new faces for the topical satirical news show, but rumors have it that actor and President Barack Obama’s White House staffer Kal Penn, as well as Amy Poehler and Tina It has been suggested that Faye and Chris may appear. Rock’s names all came up.
