Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart welcomed Iowa Democratic Senate Josh Turek to Wednesday’s episode of The Weekly Show podcast, where he lamented that people call him a socialist for wanting socialized health care. During their discussion Stewart and Turek would make several misleading claims about the nature of private health care in Iowa.
Stewart wondered, “What do you think has allowed this inequality to take shape? Because I think most people would agree the economy is at the very least unbalanced that we have for too many years favored investment and capital over labor.”
Before Turek would answer, Stewart added, “And, you know, now the buzzword on, on the right is, oh, so you're, you know, you want socialism. Well, no, I want to stop privatizing things that don't work well in a market system like health care, like Medicare, like all those things that are getting ruined by privatization and insurance, and all those different markets and rebalance so that labor gets a fairer shake. The same shake that money gets.”
Jon Stewart doesn't want you calling him a socialist even if he supports socialized medicine, "And, you know, now the buzzword on, on the right is, oh, so you're, you know, you want socialism. Well, no, I want to stop privatizing things that don't work well in a market system… pic.twitter.com/zo84RMxoNm
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) October 1, 2026
Iowa is just one of 41 states plus D.C. that has some form of private sector involvement with Medicaid, but Turek agreed with Stewart’s framing, “Yeah, 100 percent agree. I mean, the move is always the same whether it's education or health care. It is defund it to the point where it appears like it no longer works. So then we can privatize it so that it doesn't function, and we can make millions and billions of dollars in profits off the backs of the most vulnerable."
Stewart was a big fan of that answer, “This, this is such an important cycle. I really, I want to slow down for a moment because I want to have the audience really understand it is a cynical cycle, but it is an important one. So, so walk us through a little bit, your knowledge of, you know, the medical cycle and how that is, how that is done.”
Turek replied by giving his campaign origin story, “So, for example, in Iowa, the privatization of Medicaid, which was the reason why I got involved in this, you know, as I said, I was providing power wheelchairs for individuals with progressive conditions, and over and over and over every day I would hear from these folks saying, ‘Josh, I can't get a direct care worker or I can't get a wheelchair.’ And I would say, ‘Why is this taking place?' Well, the privatization of Medicaid. And then I found out we had never had a permanent disabled member ever in the history of the state. Even though we're a state of 150 years and so that's what that sort of inspired me to run.
He also claimed, “And so what takes place, you know, before Medicaid was privatized in Iowa, you would go and talk to any person with the disability. They would say it wasn't perfect, but it was functioning. Now, after we have privatized it, we've got 27,000 disabled individuals in Iowa that are on wait lists. The longest wait list currently is nine years for care. Denial rates skyrocketed—”
Stewart then interrupted to simply yell, “Holy shit! Nine years?”
Turek then doubled down, “Nine years, that's the intellectual disability waiver.”
It is unclear where Turek got his numbers. The actual number is closer to five years. It is unlikely that Stewart and Turek would accept a five-year wait list as a consolation, but blaming it on the private sector is a wild non-sequitur. Maine is one of the few states without private sector involvement in Medicaid, and its wait list for the intellectual disability waiver can be as high as eight years.
The conceit of socialized health care is that the government has an endless money pit to spend on health care while the private sector will always prioritize profits. However, even in Iowa, Medicaid eligibility is still determined by the state, and excessively long waiting lists are a common feature of countries with socialized health care.
Here is a transcript for the September 30 show:
Comedy Central The Weekly Show
9/30/2026
JON STEWART: What do you think has allowed this inequality to take shape? Because I think most people would agree the economy is at the very least unbalanced that we have for too many years favored investment and capital over labor.
And, you know, now the buzzword on, on the right is, oh, so you're, you know, you want socialism. Well, no, I want to stop privatizing things that don't work well in a market system like health care, like Medicare, like all those things that are getting ruined by privatization and insurance, and all those different markets and rebalance so that labor gets a fairer shake. The same shake that money gets.
JOSH TUREK: Yeah, 100 percent agree. I mean, the move is always the same whether it's education or health care. It is defund it to the point where it appears like it no longer works. So then we can privatize it so that it doesn't function, and we can make millions and billions of dollars in profits off the backs of the most vulnerable.
STEWART: This, this is such an important cycle. I really, I want to slow down for a moment because I want to have the audience really understand it is a cynical cycle, but it is an important one. So, so walk us through a little bit, your knowledge of, you know, the medical cycle and how that is, how that is done.
TUREK: Yeah. So, for example, in Iowa, the privatization of Medicaid, which was the reason why I got involved in this, you know, as I said, I was providing power wheelchairs for individuals with progressive conditions, and over and over and over every day I would hear from these folks saying, “Josh, I can't get a direct care worker or I can't get a wheelchair.”
And I would say, "Why is this taking place?’ Well, the privatization of Medicaid. And then I found out we had never had a permanent disabled member ever in the history of the state. Even though we're a state of 150 years and so that's what that sort of inspired me to run.
And so what takes place, you know, before Medicaid was privatized in Iowa, you would go and talk to any person with the disability. They would say it wasn't perfect, but it was functioning. Now, after we have privatized it, we've got 27,000 disabled individuals in Iowa that are on wait lists. The longest wait list currently is nine years for care. Denial rates skyrocketed—
STEWART: Holy shit!
TUREK: Yeah, can you imagine if that's your son—
STEWART: Nine years?
TUREK: Nine years, that's the intellectual disability waiver.
STEWART: For someone struggling with this.
