More than 3 million people tuned in to Comedy Central to see what Jon Stewart had to say when he made his hotly anticipated return to The Daily Show last week after nearly a decade away from the desk. While those viewership numbers were enough to make the episode the most-watched show on cable, not all of the feedback for Stewart was exactly positive.
On Monday, Stewart reacted to the news of his return by sharing a few of the most brutal reactions on X, formerly Twitter. Those included ex-MSNBC star Keith Olbermann’s insistence that Stewart is “a bothsidesist fraud” and suggesting that the new Monday night king disappear from the airwaves for another nine years.
While Stewart begrudgingly admitted that the response to his return was “maybe not” universally glowing, he pointed out that many of his harshest critics came at him from X, where everyone is miserable. “I’ve seen people on Twitter tell Labradoodles to go fuck themselves,” Stewart shared. “Labradoodles!”
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In response to Mary L. Trump, outspoken anti-Trump niece of Donald who described Stewart’s comments—which took aim at both Trump and Biden—as “a potential disaster for democracy,” Stewart kind of lost it.
“It was one fucking show! It was just one fucking show! It was 20 minutes,” Stewart screamed. “I did 20 minutes in one fucking show! But I guess, as the famous saying goes: ‘Democracy dies in discussion.’”
Stewart handled the criticism with his typical good humor. “It was never my intention to say out loud what I saw with my eyes and then brain. I can do better!”
Moving on, Stewart then wondered aloud where on Earth he could go to learn the ways of honest journalism. “Where do I go to study the particulars of unquestioning propaganda?” Stewart asked. “I would need mentorship.”
From there, the footage cut to Tucker Carlson’s talking head just before he sat down for his sycophantic interview with Vladimir Putin.
Among the pointers Stewart was able to take from the ousted Fox News anchor: “Lie about what your job is,” “Lie about what your duty is,” and “Disguise your deception and capitulation to power as noble and moral and based in freedom. Yes, master.”
Ultimately, Stewart learned that when you’re interviewing a ruthless world leader and have no intention of asking any follow-ups or challenging any of the bullshit he throws your way, the most dignified way to do that is to contort your face in such a way that you appear “constipated while jerking off to a Sears catalog.” Noted!
