NEW YORK — Jon Stewart’s return to The Daily Show on Monday resulted in backlash after Jon Stewart didn’t just do a tepid imitation of Donald Trump to a constantly-applauding audience.
“Political comedy shows are meant to be escapist,” said longtime viewer of clips on social media Brimley Bryant. “I don’t want to be reminded about how old Joe Biden is, I want to be reminded of how funny Donald Trump is. I mean, how stupid he is.”
Despite making his opposition to Donald Trump perfectly clear, going so far as to refer to Donald Trump’s looming reelection campaign as “the barbarians at the gates,” Jon Stewart refrained from taking a minute-long interlude to say things like “seize the ramparts, beautiful ramparts, the best,” much to the chagrin of people who really like seeing that kind of stuff every day.
“He wasn’t trying to convince us that Donald Trump is bad — in fact, he treated us like we already knew that,” Bryant continued. “He didn’t even take a moment to say that Biden is, at his core, a truly decent man. Am I watching a comedy show, or what?”
A large contingent of the viewers were supportive of the decision, though.
“I’m not really a fan of the constant Trump impressions. I’d argue that continuing to focus on him, even after he has made it clear he’s in on the joke, sucks all the oxygen out of the room and boosts his own personal status undeservedly. Focusing instead on material issues with his opposition, and speaking to the elephant in the room on behalf of the voters, allows these things to be discussed instead of swept under the rug and allowed to fester. If, as the veritable cavalcade of public officials have claimed, the President is sharp and focused, Stewart is simply handing him an opportunity to confront these nefarious allegations nearly three-quarters of a year before the election, rather than handing Trump a loaded gun for the entirety of 2024. And if, God forbid, that is not true, he’s performing a duty to the American public, at a time when there’s still plenty of opportunity to change candidates. I think it’s the right move,” the idiot, who we won’t even name here because they’re so naive and stupid, said.
At press time, despite multiple requests from our team, Jon Stewart was not seen practicing a Trump impression.
