Jon Stewart Delivers A Moral Rallying Cry On Colbert
“Hello Donald, it’s me — the guy you made sure everyone knew was Jewish on twitter.”
In a segment on Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show,” Jon Stewart emerged from under the news desk to deliver what began as a screed but became a patriotic soliloquy. Noting that Donald Trump’s presidency appears to be approaching its “500th year,” Stewart put a finger on precisely what makes Trump’s villainy so specifically irritating. Addressing Trump directly, he said, “No matter what you do it always comes with an extra layer of gleeful cruelty and d***ishness.”
Calling the president’s child-separation immigration policy “a Dickensian level of villainy,” Stewart declared, “I won’t allow you and your sycophants to turn your cruelty into virtue.”
With his characteristic moral righteousness and silver-fox sex-appeal, Stewart addressed the nation, invoking Lincoln (miraculously, this did not seem sanctimonious): “What Donald Trump wants is for us to stop calling his cruelty, and fear, and divisiveness wrong, and join him in calling it right,” said Stewart. “And this, we cannot do.”
Stewart, ever hopeful but realistic, finished with a word of warning, invoking this time not Lincoln, but Samantha Bee: “By not yielding, we will prevail. Unless of course the democratic leaders are committed to being a bunch of feckless…” The comedian trailed off, leaving us, as always, wanting but not necessarily deserving more.
Watch Stewart’s full speech here:
Jenny Singer is the deputy life editor for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.