Jon Stewart Makes Racially Charged Joke at Herman Cain's Expense: He Doesn't 'Like to Read'

June 10th, 2011 5:23 PM

It would be unfair to call Jon Stewart a racist but when he mocked GOP presidential contender Herman Cain as essentially an illiterate, on Thursday's show, it has to be asked wouldn't Stewart and his cronies at The Daily Show have satirized any sort of conservative talk show host, like a Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, as a bigot if they had joked that President Barack Obama didn't "like to read?"

After playing a clip of Cain promising to limit congressional bills to just three pages, Stewart attempted to impersonate Cain and then threw up a mock billboard that read: "HERMAN CAIN 2012 - I DON'T LIKE TO READ"

The following excerpt was aired on the June 9 edition of Comedy Central's The Daily Show:

JON STEWART: But while Pawlenty attempts to get us to face the problem inside us, candidate Herman Cain offers real solutions to fictional issues.

(Begin clip from June 6 speech)

HERMAN CAIN: Don't try to pass a 2700 page bill. You and I didn't have time to read it. We too busy trying to live, send our kids to school. But that's why I'm going to only allow small bills. Three pages. You'll have time to read to that one over the dinner table.

(End clip)

STEWART IMPERSONATING CAIN: "Bills will be three pages! If I am president treaties will have to fit on the back of a cereal box! From now on the State of the Union Address will be delivered in the form of a fortune cookie! I am Herman Cain and I do not like to read."

(On screen a mock billboard with Cain's face on it reads: "HERMAN CAIN 2012 - I DON'T LIKE TO READ")

STEWART: We'll be right back.