Daily Show

Professor: Stewart, Colbert Could Have Taught Obama That Conservatives Are ‘Immune to the Force of Reason’
By Tom Johnson | July 24, 2015 | 5:45 PM EDT

One year ago, a British newspaper published a list of President Obama’s ten favorite television shows (the top three, in reverse order: Breaking Bad, The Wire, and M*A*S*H). Not on the list was The Daily Show, on which Obama guested yet again this past Tuesday, but Penn State's Sophia McClennen thinks that if Obama had been more of a TDS fan, he long ago would have realized how irrational his conservative opposition was.

In a Friday article for Salon, McClennen asserted that Stewart and Stephen Colbert “had insight into U.S. politics Obama never seemed to understand. ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Colbert Report’ were one of the main sources of truth telling about U.S. politics and the nature of the Republican Party before and during the Obama presidency.” Those programs, wrote McClennen, illuminated “the twisted thinking, hubris, disdain for large segments of society, and closed-mindedness that forms the common, core mind-set of Fox viewers.”

Obama Outrageously Denies IRS Targeting Scandal on Daily Show, Nets Censor
By Geoffrey Dickens | July 22, 2015 | 1:06 PM EDT

Barack Obama outrageously denied there was anything scandalous about the IRS-Tea Party controversy in his Tuesday interview on The Daily Show as he lectured Jon Stewart that: “When there was that problem with the I.R.S. everybody jumped, including you...you got this back office and they’re going after the Tea Party. Well it turned out no.” Obama went on to assert “the truth of the matter is there was not some big conspiracy there.” 

CBS on Obama's Final Jon Stewart Appearance: 'Like Two Old Friends'
By Scott Whitlock | July 22, 2015 | 12:32 PM EDT

All three networks on Wednesday hyped Barack Obama's final appearance on The Daily Show, but it was CBS that offered the most nostalgic coverage. This Morning's Vladimir Duthiers reminisced: "Like two old friends just enjoying each other's company, Tuesday night, Jon Stewart and President Obama both reflected on the approaching conclusion of their careers." He hyped a clip of Obama gushing: "I'm issuing a new executive order that Jon Stewart cannot leave the show." Co-host Gayle King was amused: "This morning President Obama has a plan to make Jon Stewart stay put."

Jon Stewart to Obama: ‘Are We Demanding Too Much of You?’
By Jeffrey Meyer | July 22, 2015 | 8:07 AM EDT

During his final appearance Tuesday night on the Daily Show, with Jon Stewart as host, President Obama was treated to a softball interview in which the retiring Comedy Central host worried: “Are we [the media] demanding too much of you?” Stewart clearly seemed to sympathize with Obama over his poor relationship with the press and spoke of Obama's “frustration sometimes with the media -- is the media, myself included, are we focused on the wrong things?”

Lefty Professor: By Leaving The Daily Show, Jon Stewart Is Giving In to Fox News ‘Bullies’
By Tom Johnson | July 15, 2015 | 1:48 PM EDT

The Miracle on Ice and Hoosiers aside, the underdog usually loses, and Penn State's Sophia McClennen speculates that it’s happened again: Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show because he’s “exhausted” and "dejected" from battling Roger Ailes and the Fox News juggernaut. “Could Stewart really be giving up his show due to Fox News fatigue?” wondered McClennen in a Wednesday article for Salon. “It’s time to take seriously the idea that Fox News killed the greatest satire show of our nation’s history.”

 

Jon Stewart Asks Dem. Senator if GOPers ‘Have Mental Problems?’
By Jeffrey Meyer | July 2, 2015 | 9:12 AM EDT

Liberal New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sat down for a friendly interview with Daily Show host Jon Stewart on Wednesday night and the two eagerly took turns bashing Republican members of Congress for being “cynical” for disagreeing with liberal policy positions. Gillibrand accused the GOP of lacking “empathy” to which Stewart asked if it was “pathological though? Do you think they have mental problems?”

Jon Stewart Mocks NY Times Coverage of Rubio, Leaves Key Points on the Cutting Room Floor
By Tom Blumer | June 11, 2015 | 11:50 PM EDT

If you're Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, you know you have to do the occasional segment going after the establishment press or left-wing groups to maintain appearances.

The James O'Keefe-ACORN saga in 2009 was one such instance. If Stewart hadn't dealt with it, his pretense of being supposedly fair to both left and right would have been blown out of the water. The incredibly petty New York Times reports on Marco Rubio's traffic tickets and finances fit the media version of the "We'd better do something with this or else" template. The video which follows the jump shows that Stewart only had a pair of strong moments, while missing at least a couple of key opportunities to make important points with humor.

Pummeling Perry: The Media’s Worst Attacks on the Former Texas Governor
By Geoffrey Dickens | June 4, 2015 | 10:00 AM EDT

If his 2012 presidential run is any indicator, Rick Perry’s jump into the 2016 presidential race will bring about a flurry of the liberal media’s favorite pejoratives to hit Republicans with. Racist? Anti-science? Religious bigot? Gun nut? Heartless cutter of programs for the poor? You name it, the former Texas governor was called it by his haters in the leftist press. 

Jon Stewart to Rand Paul: Christians Sell Cakes to Sinners ‘All the Time’
By Connor Williams | May 27, 2015 | 11:33 AM EDT

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul stopped by for a visit on the May 26 edition of the Daily Show, where host Jon Stewart attacked the Kentucky senator for his position on religious liberty. Stewart argued that Christians already serve sinners anyway, so serving gay weddings shouldn’t be any different:

Stephanopoulos Flashback: 'There Is Hope' Donations Will 'Lead to Something'
By Scott Whitlock | May 15, 2015 | 9:40 AM EDT

Even as he apologized on Friday for donating $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, George Stephanopoulos tried to spin the contributions as innocent, swearing, "I have made substantial donations to dozens of charities, including the Clinton Global Foundation... I made them strictly to support work done to stop the spread of AIDS, help children and protect the environment in poor countries." 

Sean Hannity Calls Jon Stewart a 'Sanctimonious Jackass' Over Spring Break Coverage
By Randy Hall | May 14, 2015 | 7:04 PM EDT

The conservative host of the Fox News Channel's Hannity weeknight program used his Wednesday episode to push back on the mockery he received from Jon Stewart, the departing liberal host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, over Sean Hannity's extensive coverage of last year's spring break in Florida.

Hannity called Stewart a “sanctimonious jackass” for dubbing him “America's oldest hall monitor” and dedicating “not one, not two, but five different shows on the horrors of spring break, including the entire hour on Friday featuring a panel of outraged experts there to expose this annual event.”

Jon Stewart Slams Jeb Bush for Agreeing With His Brother's Invasion of Iraq
By Randy Hall | May 13, 2015 | 5:55 PM EDT

During a segment called “Democalypse 2016" on Tuesday night's edition of The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart hammered former Florida governor and likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush for supporting the decision made by former GOP president George W. Bush -- his older brother -- to invade Iraq “even knowing what we know now.”

“Long term, mentioning his brother's name is like wearing an 'I F**k Dogs' T-shirt during your campaign,” the departing liberal anchor claimed, adding that he might only “be appealing to a small fringe of dead-enders.”