There are plenty of Jewish comedians in America, but ever since Jon Stewart stepped down as host of The Daily Show in 2015, they have been few and far between on late-night television.
So perhaps Stewart felt some sort of obligation to address the latest antisemitic outbursts from powerful cultural figures like the rapper formerly known as Kanye West and former president of the United States Donald Trump. The host of Apple TV+’s The Problem with Jon Stewart used the opening portion of that show’s companion podcast on Wednesday to share his thoughts on the topic, including why he thinks “antisemitism” is the wrong word to be using.
“I don’t have a ton of time today because I have a Jewish media mafia meeting,” Stewart joked up top. “We’ve just got a lot of stuff to talk about in terms of censorship and what we have to control. A lot of stuff has been sneaking through the cracks.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The host began by addressing Trump’s “crazy” statement about how “U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel—Before it is too late!” Stewart called it “one of the most explicit expressions of just pure ‘Jews have only loyalty to Israel,’” adding, “and I don’t know that it even made the top 10 antisemitic bullshit of the week!”
“In fact, the word antisemitic doesn’t even carry it anymore,” Stewart continued. “It’s just weird Jew paranoia bullshit that it’s mind-blowing to me how easily it flows from people’s mouths and everybody’s just like, ‘Wow, that was weird.’”
The comedian has a long history of going after Trump for making antisemitic comments, including when Trump accused him of rejecting his Jewish heritage by changing his name from Jonathan Leibowitz. In return, Stewart started referring to Trump as #FuckFaceVonClownstick.
From there, Stewart moved on to West, who, among many other outrageous statements, recently referred to a “Jewish platform like Disney.” To which Stewart replied, “Boy, he really doesn’t know the history of Disney, does he?”
“If you are Jewish, then you’re part of the Jewish mafia,” Stewart continued. “But if you’re not, then you’re just a guy who’s a dick to him in business. But if you’re a Jewish guy who’s a dick to him in business, then it’s part of the cabal.”
“It’s fucking wild! But at least we know now what Candace Owens says in private,” Stewart added of West’s new business partner. “I think it’s pretty clear that that’s the shit that’s flying around.”
Stewart then tried to grapple with someone like West “whose work is beloved” who just decides to start blaming Jewish people for his problems. “You’re a billionaire who was married to the Kardashians,” he added. “How bad have we been fucking you?”
And as for those who defend West by saying his recent controversies are all part of his mental health struggles, Stewart said he’s not sure what kind of drug could help him in this case. “Jew-alax?” he joked. “I don’t know what drug you could get that could make you not believe there’s a cabal of Jews controlling the flow of information from your mouth to the public.”
For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.
