Jon Stewart returned to host The Daily Show on Monday and within three minutes was already going after Donald Trump — but also Joe Biden, taking a critical look at the president’s apparent age-related issues.
Announcing “Indecision 2024: Electile Dysfunction,” Stewart dove right into the special counsel’s report that exonerated President Biden on the matter of mishandling classified documents while also torpedoing his re-election efforts with its description of Biden as an elderly man with a poor memory. Stewart showed clips of Trump being deposed and likewise not being able to recall some basic facts about his life.
“It turns out that the leading cause of early onset dementia is being deposed,” Stewart said.
But then, Stewart showed footage of Biden’s disastrous Friday press conference attempt to assure Americans that he was up to the task of the world’s most important job. “So Joe Biden had a big press conference to dispel the notion that he may have lost a step, politically speaking, and lost three to four steps…” and then later adds, “Trump regularly says things at rallies that would warrant a wellness check.”
Stewart played Biden’s first TikTok video that was launched this weekend and quipped, “How do you go on TikTok and end up looking older?”
“These two candidates, they are both similarly challenged,” Stewart declared. “And it is not crazy to think that the oldest people in the history of the country to ever run for president might have some of these challenges … We’re not suggesting neither man is vibrant, productive or even capable. But they’re both stretching the limits of being able to handle the toughest job in the world. What’s crazy is thinking that we’re the ones as voters who must silence concerns and criticisms. It is the candidates job to assuage concerns.”
Stewart, naturally, did not suggest this meant both candidates were equally flawed, and quickly ran down many concerns about Trump. But, he argued, those are all the more reason that Trump’s opponent needs to be strong.
“Look, Joe Biden isn’t Donald Trump,” he said. “He hasn’t been indicted as many times, hasn’t had as many fraudulent businesses or been convicted in a civil trial for sexual assault or been ordered to pay defamation charges or stiffed blue collar tradesman….. The stakes of this election don’t make Donald Trump’s opponent less subject to scrutiny. It actually makes him more subject to scrutiny. If the barbarians are at the gate, you want Conan [the Barbarian] standing on the ramparts, not chocolate chip cookie guy.”
Comedy Central shocked Daily Show fans last month by announcing that Stewart would return to the late-night series as an executive producer and once-a-week host. For non-Monday shows — which Stewart will help steer behind the scenes — The Daily Show will the split host duties among its team of correspondents (which include Jordan Klepper, Desi Lydic, Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta and Dulcé Sloan).
The move followed the collapse of Stewart’s partnership with Apple TV+, where he made the topic-driven discussion series The Problem With Jon Stewart.
Earlier Monday, Stewart explained to CBS Mornings his reason for returning to the show that he previously hosted for 16 years.
“I very much wanted to have some place to unload thoughts as we get into this election season,” Stewart said. “I thought I was going to do it over at … Apple TV+. … They decided, they felt that they didn’t want me to say things that might get me in trouble. … I don’t know about ‘hoping to have an influence,’ but I’m hoping to have a catharsis and a way to comment on things and a way to express them that hopefully people will enjoy.”
The re-hiring of Stewart helps shore up The Daily Show during what’s bound to be a tumultuous election year. The show’s last full-time host, Trevor Noah, unexpectedly stepped down in 2022 after seven years behind the desk.
