Salon.com > Jon Stewart http://www.salon.com Mon, 28 May 2012 15:05:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 “The Daily Show” commemorates 9/13/01 http://www.salon.com/2011/09/13/daily_show_5/ http://www.salon.com/2011/09/13/daily_show_5/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:14:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/09/13/daily_show Ten years ago, a tragedy brought us all closer together. Last night, Jon Stewart recalled another moment, just two days after, when all the solidarity engendered through a national trauma began to dissipate into the political ether. Opportunists -- first Jerry Falwell, then Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, all the "Ground Zero Mosque" people (not to say anything of the folks in power) -- began using the memory of that historical moment for their own personal advantage. "The Daily Show" paid tribute:

09/13/01: Remembering the Day We Forgot the Lessons of the Day We Had Sworn We Would Always Remember

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/09/13/daily_show_5/feed/ 8 Stewart: I thought we already took care of this… http://www.salon.com/2011/07/29/steward_9_11_responders_cancer_coverage/ http://www.salon.com/2011/07/29/steward_9_11_responders_cancer_coverage/#comments Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/07/29/steward_9_11_responders_cancer_coverage Late last year, Jon Stewart unabashedly put activism above comedy in his support of the Zadroga bill -- the health care bill that provides medical treatment for 9/11 first responders.

The bill passed, but Stewart still has reason for outrage. It was announced Tuesday that the compensation fund will not cover the costs of cancer treatment.

Administrators say that there are inadequate "published scientific and medical findings" that a causal link exists between 9/11 exposures and the occurrence of cancer in responders and survivors. A number of medical experts have argued otherwise.

"I thought we already took care of this sh*t," said Stewart on Thursday night, astounded that the fund covers coughing, laryngitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome -- but not cancer -- "The one disease you seem to disproportionately be getting."

Watch the clip below:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/07/29/steward_9_11_responders_cancer_coverage/feed/ 37 Stewart: Does Congress want to break up with us? http://www.salon.com/2011/07/26/stewart_debt_armadebtdon/ http://www.salon.com/2011/07/26/stewart_debt_armadebtdon/#comments Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:27:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/07/26/stewart_debt_armadebtdon In his update on the debt crisis Monday night (also know as "Armadebtdon"), Jon Stewart used some elaborate similes.

He compared the rancorous negotiations to a "non-fiction version" of the film "Captain America" -- a fictionalized vision of what Americans can achieve if they put their minds to it.

On the economic collapse threatened by a U.S. default, Stewart noted, "the only catastrophe that has moved its date this often is 'Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark'."

He then said that Congress is not bad at its job, "it's just equivalent to a skunk with its head in a jar of Skippy peanut butter."

And finally, the host compared Congress' treatment of the American people over the debt crisis to bad behavior at the end of a relationship: "Do you want out of this relationship so bad, but don't have the balls to leave, so you all decided to act like such giant assholes you force us to break up with you?"

Watch the clip below:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/07/26/stewart_debt_armadebtdon/feed/ 2 Jon Stewart skewers Murdoch testimony http://www.salon.com/2011/07/20/jon_stewart_murdoch_scandal/ http://www.salon.com/2011/07/20/jon_stewart_murdoch_scandal/#comments Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:21:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/07/20/jon_stewart_murdoch_scandal Jon Stewart almost had too much material to choose from when giving a satirical summary of recent events in the phone hacking scandal. Following the testimony in front of a British parliamentary committee Tuesday of Rupert Murdoch, his son James and Rebekah Brooks (which was interrupted by a pie attack on the Australian-born mogul), Stewart took shots at a few key incidents.

He made particular mention of Rupert Murdoch interrupting his son during the hearing to say that it was "the most humble day" of his life. "Not so humble you couldn’t wait for your turn to talk!" quipped Stewart.

Watch "The Daily Show" host's recap of "hackgate" developments below: 

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/07/20/jon_stewart_murdoch_scandal/feed/ 6 Obama would make a terrible Incredible Hulk http://www.salon.com/2011/07/15/stewart_mocks_angry_obama/ http://www.salon.com/2011/07/15/stewart_mocks_angry_obama/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:16:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/07/15/stewart_mocks_angry_obama "If that's Obama mad, that's weak," said Jon Stewart on Thursday night, mocking the president's alleged tough talk in debt negotiations. Stewart suggested that even if Obama were the Incredible Hulk, he would politely excuse himself when he felt a transformation coming on, so as to change into a bigger suit.

"The Daily Show" host took particular issue with the president's warning to House Majority leader, Eric Cantor. "Don't call my bluff, Eric," Obama said this week. "Boy, the name Eric really takes the urgency and steam out of an argument, doesn't it."

Watch Stewart's comments on angry Obama below:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/07/15/stewart_mocks_angry_obama/feed/ 8 Stewart dings GOP debt ceiling stance http://www.salon.com/2011/07/13/stewart_republican_debt_ceiling/ http://www.salon.com/2011/07/13/stewart_republican_debt_ceiling/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:14:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/07/13/stewart_republican_debt_ceiling Jon Stewart Tuesday night mocked the Republican party for making the debt ceiling their give as opposed to increased tax revenues. "The Daily Show" host said their refusal to budge on taxes was like a doctor trying to treat a sick patient using only a belief in magic:

"Broken legs? Nothing a frog wing, fire dance and some rhinoceros tusk bone powder can't cure!"

Stewart also used his opening segment to ding the GOP for bringing up light bulb legislation in Congress during this politically fraught time.

Watch the video below:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/07/13/stewart_republican_debt_ceiling/feed/ 5 Jon Stewart hears of Britain’s tabloid disgrace http://www.salon.com/2011/07/12/jon_stewart_john_oliver_news_of_the_world/ http://www.salon.com/2011/07/12/jon_stewart_john_oliver_news_of_the_world/#comments Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:13:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/07/12/jon_stewart_john_oliver_news_of_the_world "The Daily Show"'s British correspondent, John Oliver, makes Jon Stewart feel a little better about ethics standards in the American press with a biting summary of the News of the World's most egregious behavior, which led to media mogul Rupert Murdoch shutting down the title last week.

"Do you know how hard it is to disgrace a British tabloid?" Oliver asked Stewart, before detailing the wrongdoings of the newspaper.

"You people are garbage!" exclaims Stewart in response to hearing the story in its gritty entirety.

Watch the clip below:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/07/12/jon_stewart_john_oliver_news_of_the_world/feed/ 2 Stewart questions N.Y.’s legislative priorities http://www.salon.com/2011/06/24/morning_clip_3/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/24/morning_clip_3/#comments Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:55:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/24/morning_clip The New York state Senate still hasn't brought Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Marriage Equality Act to a vote, despite days of extra meetings (the bill needs only one more vote to pass). Last night on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart took a look at some of the other issues legislators have been addressing in their extended session -- and made it clear he doesn't think a vote on New York's state vegetable is quite as pressing as a decision on gay marriage.

Watch the clip here:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/24/morning_clip_3/feed/ 8 Herman Cain deploys dreaded “race card” http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/cain_stewart_race_card/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/cain_stewart_race_card/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:01:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/06/23/cain_stewart_race_card Herman Cain, pizza magnate, Tea Partyer, and black Republican presidential candidate, wants you to know that he was just "exaggerating" when he said he'd veto all bills longer than three pages and guard the border with alligators. But Jon Stewart made fun of him for saying those things, and so Jon Stewart is racist. Yep: Herman Cain's "playing the race card!" So soon after he promised to take it off the table.

Here's a long ThinkProgress video of Cain addressing the Iowa Falls Fire Department(!):

Cain said Stewart "mocked me with a, you know, Amos and Andy type brogue." (Stewart did a not-great impression of Cain's public speaking voice, akin to his not-great Bush and McCain impressions.) And Cain went on to compare Stewart to people who've used racial epithets against Cain and said Stewart (and presumably others mocking Cain's statement) were motivated to do so by his race:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/cain_stewart_race_card/feed/ 43 Puppet John McCain returns to “The Daily Show” http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/puppet_john_mccain/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/puppet_john_mccain/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:45:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/23/puppet_john_mccain Sen. John McCain made some controversial claims over the weekend about illegal immigrants' responsibility for border-region wildfires. "[W]e are concerned particularly about areas down on the border where there is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," McCain said at a news conference, suggesting that "the answer to that part of the problem" was to "get a secure border." (The senator has since denied that he was referring specifically to Arizona's devastating Wallow fire with his remarks.)

As Salon's Justin Elliott has pointed out, McCain's "substantial evidence" has been hard to confirm -- and last night, Jon Stewart tried to clear things up by interviewing the politician's cranky puppet counterpart.

See the full clip here:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/23/puppet_john_mccain/feed/ 3 Stewart slams Fox as “lying dynasty” http://www.salon.com/2011/06/22/morning_clip_2/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/22/morning_clip_2/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:50:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/22/morning_clip During a provocative interview with Fox News's Chris Wallace on Sunday, Jon Stewart claimed repeatedly that Fox has "the most consistently misinformed media viewers."

"As it turns out, I was misinformed," Stewart admitted to his own viewers last night on "The Daily Show," addressing a PolitiFact report that had used polling data to rate his claim "false."

"Ultimately, PolitiFact declared my statement false," Stewart said. "I defer to their judgment, and I apologize for my mistake; to not do so would be irresponsible." He added: "If I were to continue to make such mistakes and misstatements and not correct them -- especially if each and every one of those misstatements happened to go in one very particular direction on the political spectrum -- well, that would undermine the very integrity and credibility that I work so hard to pretend to care about."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/22/morning_clip_2/feed/ 44 No, Jon Stewart, you’re not just a comedian http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/will_bunch_jon_stewart/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/will_bunch_jon_stewart/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:22:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/06/21/will_bunch_jon_stewart This originally appeared at Attytood, Will Bunch's blog at Philly.com

TV funnyman (I love that phrase) Jon Stewart is back in the news again, as he so frequently seems to be. For reasons I don't fully understand, Chris Wallace thought it would be a good idea to invite the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" on his program, "Fox News Sunday," and Stewart agreed to come on. Of course, Stewart showed his gratitude by telling Wallace that he was "insane" and saying that FNC is disproportionately responsible for poisoning the discourse in this country.

Stewart called Fox News a "relentless agenda-driven 24-hour news opinion propaganda delivery system" -- that sounds about right. But then he added this:

"Here's the difference between you and I. I'm a comedian first. My comedy is informed by an ideological background, there's no question about that. But the thing that you will never understand ... is that Hollywood, yeah, they're liberal, but that's not their primary motivating force. I'm not an activist. I am a comedian."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/will_bunch_jon_stewart/feed/ 83 Stewart puts his Fox News comments in context http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/morning_clip_stewart_fox/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/morning_clip_stewart_fox/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:45:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/21/morning_clip_stewart_fox Jon Stewart made headlines on Sunday when, in an interview, he told Fox News's Chris Wallace he was "insane" to think of "The Daily Show's"comedy barbs as "political comment[s]." Stewart told Wallace:

Here is the difference between you and I: I'm a comedian first. ... You can't understand because of the world you live in that there is not a designed ideological agenda on my part to affect partisan change because that's the soup you swim in. I appreciate that. I understand that. It reminds me of, you know -- you know, ideological regimes.

Last night on "The Daily Show," Stewart recommended that his viewers watch the unedited version of the interview -- in which, he said, his arguments come across "a little clearer, and a little less like a scene from 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.'"

In the full version of the conversation, Stewart said, Wallace "[gives] away the game" by declaring he thinks Fox exists to tell "the other side of the story."

"As you know," Stewart quipped, "news only comes in two sides. ... Fox News isn't 'fair and balanced' -- it's balancing the system, man."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/morning_clip_stewart_fox/feed/ 26 Jon Stewart: Fox News is wrong about “Daily Show” agenda http://www.salon.com/2011/06/19/jon_stewart_fox/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/19/jon_stewart_fox/#comments Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/06/19/jon_stewart_fox The animus between Jon Stewart and Fox News is nothing new to anyone with a cable box: The former routinely lampoons the Becks, Hannitys and O'Reillys of the world for their partisan histrionics, while the latter presents "The Daily Show" as a hub for liberal activism.

All of which make Stewart's appearance on Fox News Sunday for a one-on-one interview with host Chris Wallace all the more riveting. Over the course of the segment, Wallace continually pushed Stewart to admit that his comedy was driven by an ambition to be a political power player, something the Comedy Central host emphatically denied. Stewart struck back (in what was the high point of the interview) suggesting that the Fox camp's notions of a "Daily Show" agenda was unfounded, and based predominantly on its own role as an ideologically driven media outlet:

Said Stewart:

You cannot understand -- because of the world you live in -- that there is not a designed ideological agenda on my part to effect partisan change. Because that's the soup you swim in. And I appreciate that, and I understand it. It reminds me of -- in ideological regimes, they can't understand that there is free media other places, because they receive marching orders. 

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/19/jon_stewart_fox/feed/ 149 “The Daily Show” on CNN’s over-the-top debate tech http://www.salon.com/2011/06/15/wednesday_morning_clip/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/15/wednesday_morning_clip/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:50:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/15/wednesday_morning_clip CNN's special segments and technological innovations have long been the subject of Jon Stewart's scorn, and the ploys introduced at Monday night's Republican primary debate -- including the use of a QR code leading to "exclusive" online content -- certainly did not escape the comedian's attention. (Neither did John King, the debate's moderator, who took time out from asking serious questions to quiz candidates on subjects like "Coke or Pepsi?" and "BlackBerry or iPhone?")

Watch Stewart discuss the debate here:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/15/wednesday_morning_clip/feed/ 6 Stewart slams the media’s Palin email frenzy http://www.salon.com/2011/06/14/morning_clip/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/14/morning_clip/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:55:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/14/morning_clip On Monday night's "Daily Show," Jon Stewart took the news media to task for its (in his mind) over-the-top coverage of last Friday's Sarah Palin email release, asking: "Where did [Sarah Palin] get this grossly inflated sense of her own importance, like we're hanging on every word she's ever said or written? ... Oh, right. She got that idea because we are."

Watch the full segment here:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/14/morning_clip/feed/ 12 Stewart disgusted by Weiner’s dirty emails http://www.salon.com/2011/06/09/stewart_weiner_daily_show/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/09/stewart_weiner_daily_show/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:40:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/09/stewart_weiner_daily_show So far, Jon Stewart has handled his friend Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal relatively carefully. It's difficult ground for him, of course, since -- as he's now said repeatedly -- he's torn over whether he should cover the issue as a comedian or as a friend.

Last night, his comedian side took over; it seems he could hardly resist responding to the revelation that, in the course of his sexually charged correspondence with a Las Vegas blackjack dealer, Rep. Weiner mentioned "The Daily Show" repeatedly -- even suggesting, at one point, that he and his pen pal could have sex while watching it. Stewart appears flabbergasted by this news, and can't help wondering aloud: "Is this what you people are doing at home when our show is on?!"

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/09/stewart_weiner_daily_show/feed/ 18 Jon Stewart gives a press conference http://www.salon.com/2011/06/08/press_conference_clip/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/08/press_conference_clip/#comments Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:59:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/08/press_conference_clip On Monday night's "Daily Show" -- taped less than two hours after Rep. Anthony Weiner confessed he had tweeted a lewd picture to one of his Twitter followers -- Jon Stewart had relatively little to say about "Weinergate"; he discussed his politician friend's predicament briefly, but then moved on to previously prepared material.

Last night, the comedian gave the issue more comprehensive coverage, staging his own mock press conference (complete with extended parody of Weiner's facial expressions and habit of drinking water in between statements). Stewart gave a hyperbolic apology for his own subdued reaction on Monday, saying, in an imitation of Weiner's tense tones:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/08/press_conference_clip/feed/ 3 Jon Stewart gives up on Weiner http://www.salon.com/2011/06/07/stewart_weiner_clip/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/07/stewart_weiner_clip/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:40:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/07/stewart_weiner_clip Jon Stewart certainly hasn't been shy about discussing his friendship with Rep. Anthony Weiner on the air; last week, in the heat of "Weinergate," he admitted he was conflicted about covering a story involving one of his good friends. So, how did the comedian react to Weiner's confession that he had lied about his role in the bizarre Twitter incident?

Although the "Daily Show" host mustered the energy to call Weiner's press conference (which was briefly hijacked by Andrew Breitbart) "the weirdest f---ing story I've ever seen in my life -- or the greatest episode of Maury ever," he was otherwise subdued. "At 4:25 Eastern Standard Time, this officially became sad," he said, adding: "We forget sometimes -- I certainly do -- that these people are human. And that's a lesson that's going to stay with me until I turn back to the camera over there and do a little bit on the John Edwards story."

His final word on Weiner: "I don't know what to do anymore -- it's killing me!"

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/07/stewart_weiner_clip/feed/ 13 Stewart confronts his Weiner demons http://www.salon.com/2011/06/03/stewart_weiner/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/03/stewart_weiner/#comments Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:40:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/06/03/stewart_weiner By his own admission, Jon Stewart is struggling to decide how to cover "Weinergate" on "The Daily Show" (that's not to say he hasn't devoted plenty of time to the issue over the past few days). On the one hand, he says, the situation is a comedian's dream; on the other, he and Rep. Weiner are old friends.

Last night, Stewart was visited by Tom Brokaw and Don Rickles (well, fantasy versions of the pair) who attempted to sway him -- Brokaw by chanting "Facts, truth, judgment!" as Rickles shouted "Weiner's wiener!" over and over.

It quickly descended into what Stewart could only call "the full politician sex-scandal soul-singer blowout,"  in the course of which the comedian finally told his friend: "I'm asking you against my own interests as a comedian: just tell the truth."

 

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