Jon Stewart addressed head-on the specter of censorship looming over U.S. late night talk shows on Thursday with an over-the-top portrayal of a politically obsequious television host under authoritarian rule.
Stewart hosted the Comedy Central program one day after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely following comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and two months after CBS said it would cancel the show hosted by one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics on TV, Stephen Colbert.
The show opened with a voiceover promising adherence to the party line.
“We have another fun, hilarious administration-compliant show,” it said.
Stewart lavished praise on the president and satirized his criticism of large cities and his deployment of the National Guard to fight their crime.
“Coming to you tonight from the real (expletive), the crime ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no one’s ever seen before. Someone’s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?” Stewart said.
“The Daily Show” set was refashioned with decorative gold engravings, in a parody of gold accents Trump has added to the fireplace, doorway arches, walls and other areas of the Oval Office.
Stewart fidgeted nervously as though he was worried about speaking the correct talking points. When the audience members reacted with an “awww” he whispered: “What are you doing? Shut up. You’re going to (expletive) blow this for us.”
He took on a more stilted tone when he started describing Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom, calling the president “our great father.”
“Gaze upon him. With a gait even more majestic than that of the royal horses that prance before him,” he said.
Stewart’s featured guest was due to be Maria Ressa, the journalist and author of “How to Stand Up to a Dictator.” Ressa also shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for freedom of expression in her home country of the Philippines.
Not bad I guess, but I was hoping he’d not pull any punches and would get taken off air as well. We need more hosts to get censored, imo, so the point is really driven home. Slow censoring gives people enough time to accept the unacceptable.
Lets see what John Oliver will do.
What punches do you think he pulled?He himself highlighted the absurdity of what Trump wanted while at the same time he and his correspondents, basically called Trump a greasy, discolored, micro-dick, moron. Then going on to have an extremely relevant And intelligent conversation with an an appropriate guest. What is it that you would have had him do differently?
Announce.
Announce what? He called out the problem directly. Skewering and ridiculing him.
This was never about Kirk. Trump announced months ago that Kimmel was next. And will you look at that.
Announce his candidacy.
It would be foolish to announce that more than three years out. When we're not even sure if there's even going to be an election. It would give Trump three straight years to slander and target him. Possibly getting him killed or arrested. As the fascists stir up their packs of lone wolves. Stewart shouldn't announce until the start of the Democratic primary at the earliest.
Oh, he definitely needs to announce well in advance of the useless Democratic party. He should be the standard against which every other candidate should be judged.
hahahahaha the democratic primary, funniest joke in this entire post. Love the visual of everyone jumping up like gophers when the dnc alarm rings and everyone comes running. I really need to cancel my internet and cognitive abilities before the next election rolls around.