Jon Stewart addressed the reaction to his two-sided attitude toward Biden and Trump by getting defensive and then appeared to try to appease his audience by going after Tucker Carlson.
Stewart said of criticism of his bilateralism: “He was one [bleep] Show! It was 20 minutes! I did it for 20 minutes [bleep] Joe! But I guess, as the famous saying goes, democracy dies in discussion. But look, I have sinned against you. I am sorry! It was never my intention to say out loud what I saw with my eyes and then with my brain.”
Anyone who was surprised by Stewart’s two-sided attitude may not have been paying enough attention because he started doing it towards the end of his first run on The Daily Show, and it’s only gotten worse in the years since.
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The only problem is that the Daily Show audience tends to be very liberal, so even though Stewart’s return was a huge success that drew 1.9 million viewers, criticism came from Stewart’s core audience and apparently they hurt.
Stewart appeared to try to reconcile with his viewers by taking down old enemy Tucker Carlson for interviewing Putin. The premise of Stewart’s piece was that he was learning from Carlson, using the Putin interview, how to suck power.
Interestingly, the episode made no mention of the election or age jokes about Biden.
I’m not suggesting that Stewart backed out, but there was also a callback to Stewart calling Carlson a dick on CNN’s Crossfire program in 2004, which was the viral moment that made Stewart.
Stewart’s return to The Daily Show is starting to look a lot like Bill Maher’s return to Real Time. Times have changed and comedians who like to be cynical and on both sides feel more and more out of touch.
Times have changed, and unlike Comedy Central’s commercials, I’m not sure Jon Stewart is the host we need in 2024.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and professional memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association