Jon Stewart's Return to The Daily Show Was Actually Pretty Great
When he's on his game, he's still one of the best bullshit detectors in the media.
When I read that Jon Stewart was returning to host The Daily Show on a part-time basis, I felt myself visibly cringe.
"Why do this to yourself, Jon?" I thought. Stewart had left the show at what seemed like the right moment: in August 2015, just before American politics got so absurd that it became the punchline rather than the set-up. In a memorable then-final monologue, Stewart pleaded with his audience to guard against "premeditated, institutional bullshit, designed to obscure and distract." The best of Stewart's comedy had always been drawn from that well: exposing the bullshit of politics by layering clips of the same politician saying two hypocritical things, then looking straight into the camera with that wry grin of his. Gotcha.
But in 2024, is there anything to be gained from pointing out that our leaders are power-thirsty hypocrites? We all know that Donald Trump contradicts himself and lies regularly. We all lived through the nonsensical and ever-changing mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. "It won't work anymore, Jon," I thought. "You can't fix this."
I might have only been half-right. No comedian or commentator is going to fix what's broken in American politics. But after watching the first of Stewart's new episodes (he's going to host the show on Mondays only), I'm glad he's back. It's possible—maybe even likely—that he'll say something godawful next week or fail to keep the momentum going for very long. For now, however, I think his style just might still work.
Jon Stewart kicks off The Daily Show's election coverage with a wellness check on America's two chronologically challenged candidates: Joe Biden and Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/RPmFodvVAy
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 13, 2024
Two moments from the show stood out. First, in a segment focused on the presidential election, Stewart demonstrated that when he's on his game, he still has one of the best bullshit detectors in the media. He rolled out clips of a half-dozen Democratic officials and surrogates claiming that, behind the scenes, President Joe Biden is competent, capable, and mentally strong.
"Did…anyone…film…that?" Stewart asks, grimacing at the camera. "Because if you're telling us behind-the-scenes he is sharp and full of energy and on top of it and really in control and leading, you should film that. That would be good to show to people."
It brought to mind the one moment during his eight-plus year retirement when Stewart made headlines: a smash-and-grab appearance on The Late Show, where he skewered the then-official story that the COVID-19 pandemic wasn't the result of a lab leak in Wuhan, China.
In both cases, the American public is being told one story but common sense suggests something totally different could be true. When that happens, Stewart is one of the few people in media willing to suggest that you ought to trust your own mind first and foremost—or, at the very least, that you ought to be skeptical of what those in power are saying.
That people like Stewart and Bill Maher—whom Matt Welch interviewed in the current issue of Reason—have to do this sort of thing through the lens of comedy speaks volumes about the lack of critical voices within the political media, particularly on the left. Neither should be confused for a libertarian, even though they might express libertarian views at times. But the importance of having truly liberal commentators calling out the bullshit from both right and left is more important than ever, and there are all too few of them.
Predictably, Stewart's riff on Biden's age has drawn criticism from left-leaning commentators accusing him of ignoring the greater threat posed by Donald Trump's candidacy.
Stewart had a message for that crowd last night too: "What's crazy is thinking that we're the ones, as voters, who must silence concerns and criticisms," Stewart said. Telling voters that their eyes and ears are lying to them about Biden's faculties will probably work about as well as trying to write off the lab-leak theory as disinformation.
Later, after rattling off the many, many reasons why Trump is unfit to be president, Stewart put a finer point on it: "The stakes of this election don't make Donald Trump's opponent less subject to scrutiny. It actually makes him more subject to scrutiny."
It was a strong, tight, acerbically funny performance—but Stewart saved possibly his best bit for the very end, when he urged Americans to remember that life does not revolve around the presidential election. (If you don't want to sit through the rest of the monologue, do yourself a favor a skip ahead to the 6:28 mark and watch it.)
All the attention paid to the election in the next nine months is going to "make you feel like Tuesday, November 5, is the only day that matters," Stewart said. "And that day does matter, but, man, November 6 ain't nothing to sneeze at or November 7. If your guy loses, bad things might happen, but the country is not over. And if your guy wins, the country is in no way saved."
"The work of making this world resemble one that you would prefer to live in is a lunch-pail [bleep]ing job day in and day out," Stewart continued. "I'm not saying you don't have to worry about who wins the election. I'm saying you have to worry about every day before it, and every day after it. Forever."
It's another one of those things that's obviously true even though so many public officials and so much of the media are trying to claim otherwise: The outcome of one election is not going to save or destroy America. The idea that politics is the solution to all our problems makes as much sense as ignoring the possible role of the Wuhan lab in the origins of COVID or claiming that a pair of doddering elderly men are the best options to lead the country.
When your common sense clashes with what you hear in the media, check for bullshit.
