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“There was no list”: Jon Stewart pokes fun at Trump DOJ’s Epstein memo

Stewart highlighted Attorney General Pam Bondi's previous claim that the Epstein files were "sitting on my desk"

National Affairs Fellow

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Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" (Comedy Central)
Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" (Comedy Central)

Jon Stewart mocked the Trump administration’s memo regarding sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein during Monday night’s episode of The Daily Show.

While ridiculing the GOP’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” in his opening monologue, the comedian paused to mention the administration’s apparent fumbling of the so-called Epstein files. A clip plays of Republicans celebrating the spending bill’s passing, but with the Village People’s “YMCA” playing in the background.

“That was the party they had for the Epstein list not being released,” Stewart said.

Stewart slowly waved his finger across his face, as if hypnotizing viewers.

“There was no list. There never was a list,” Stewart said.

Stewart then cut to a clip of Attorney General Pam Bondi telling Fox News back in February that she had the Epstein list “sitting on my desk right now to review.”

“Is it really?” Stewart said.

The administration has been scrambling to defend Bondi’s earlier statement, as it directly contradicts Monday’s memo. The memo said that the Justice Department and FBI found no evidence of blackmail, a client list or that Epstein was murdered.

Stewart also shared a clip from a 2024 interview on Fox News where Trump pauses before answering a question about declassifying the Epstein files. The Daily Show isn’t backing off Donald Trump’s skittishness around Epstein. In a post on X on Tuesday, The Daily Show’s X account shared a famous photo of Trump and Epstein.

“BREAKING: A Trump DOJ investigation has found that this photo does not exist, and if you saw it, no you didn’t,” the post read.

Watch the full episode:

 

By Cheyenne McNeill

Cheyenne McNeill is a national affairs fellow at Salon.


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