Jon Stewart Came Out of Retirement to Slam Donald Trump on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’
I’ve missed Jon Stewart. I’m guessing you have too. The Daily Show continues in his absence with Trevor Noah at the helm, and it’s not a bad TV show. But it’s not the same. For one night only, though, the old Daily Show magic was back, on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Colbert handed control of his desk over to Stewart, his old boss at The Daily Show (and later his producer and lead-in when he was hosting the also-missed Colbert Report, which also made a long-awaited return this week), who was on hand to mark (and bemoan) the occasion of Donald Trump accepting the Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States. Over the course of ten minutes, Stewart fired back at the man who has demanded we build a great border wall, kick out immigrants, and eat pizza with a knife and fork.
It’s a great segment; not Stewart’s best (he’s clearly a little bit rusty, and would it kill the man to wear a button-down shirt?), but he’s got plenty of the sort of piss and vinegar that made The Daily Show an essential ongoing critique of modern American politics. It occurs to me, though, looking at Stewart in that beard and rumpled T-shirt, that this may be the reason he retired in the first place. Smart guy that he is, he saw this Presidential campaign coming, and he knew covering it on a daily basis as a job would kill him.