News

Jon Stewart Explains This To Conservative Folks

by Erin Corbett

It's been a while since we saw Jon Stewart speak about American politics on TV, and we didn't know how much we missed him until his appearance on Thursday night's Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Stewart left The Daily Show last August at the very start of Donald Trump's campaign, and the country has certainly missed his commentary on the matter. But his Thursday night appearance made clear Stewart has plenty to say about Trump's conservative support, Fox News' coverage of the GOP hopeful, and who "really" owns America.

Stewart started off by talking about how Trump is everything conservatives thought they hated about President Obama, calling the former an "angry groundhog." Stewart spoke of the "contortions that many conservatives will now have to do to embrace Donald J. Trump, a man who clearly embodies all the things that they for years have said they hated about Barack Obama."

For instance, Stewart shares conservative news clips that describe Obama as "one of the most inexperienced nominees to run for president," divisive, thin-skinned, authoritarian, a "raging narcissist with no grip on reality," and an elitist who is out of touch with everyday Americans. Stewart notes how this narrative sounds less like Obama than it does the GOP nominee.

It's clear to the TV personality that what has really kept conservatives from embracing Obama but allowed them to openly support the Donald, is that Obama was not one of "their own." He is not "their thin-skinned, prompter, authoritarian, tyrant narcissist."

Stewart makes an important point about Fox News media heads Bill O'Reilly and especially Sean Hannity, who have criticized Obama over the years for the exact reasons that they have since used to praise Trump on their segments — at least in the clips Stewart shared on The Late Show.

But what seemed to be the most important and central bit of Stewart's words were the ones to Trump's support base more broadly. He said:

You just want that person to give you your country back because you feel that you're this country's rightful owners. There's only one problem with that: This country isn't yours. You don't own it. It never was. There is no real America. You don't own it.

He also had some words for "Blue Lives Matter" supporters on the RNC convention floor, noting that many of them were either silent or fought against the re-authorization of the 9/11 first responders bill, which he has previously spoken openly about. To those "Blue Lives Matter" supporters, he said, "I see you and I see your bullsh*t."

You can watch the full clip below.

Images: Giphy (1)