Jon Stewart was achieved. Sixteen years behind the anchor desk of The Day by day Present had left him bodily exhausted, creatively burned out, and desperate to develop into reacquainted along with his kids. He left the present on a excessive observe, with a star-studded last episode that featured a stay efficiency by Bruce Springsteen and a sarcastic dig from Hillary Clinton. There was even a book (by me) detailing how Stewart had remodeled a goofy fundamental cable present into influential political satire and the way he had launched a wealth of comedic expertise, together with Steve Carell, Samantha Bee, Ed Helms, Jessica Williams, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert. With Stewart’s exit in August 2015, his timing appeared excellent: The handoff to his successor, Trevor Noah, included a presidential contest between Clinton and Donald Trump, a matchup ripe for comedy. Stewart might trip off into the sundown, and the present and the nation can be in good arms.
Issues turned out nice for Noah, no less than. Stewart, in the meantime, directed a film (starring Carell) whose launch was muted by the pandemic; he created a present for Apple TV+ that ended unhappily. Off-screen, nonetheless, Stewart had a big influence, shaming Congress into funding well being take care of sick 9/11 first responders and for troopers uncovered to poisonous burn pits. However 2023 ended with Comedy Central nonetheless looking for a successor to Noah, Stewart at massive, and a high-stakes presidential election looming. Stewart returned to the Day by day Present desk this February, although solely on Monday nights.
He wasted no time stirring issues up on his first present, skewering the superior ages of Trump and, particularly, President Joe Biden. Stewart additionally made a prediction: “The following 9 months or so—and possibly greater than that, relying on the coup schedule—they’re gonna suck.” He has not been unsuitable, with Sunday night time’s ugly Trump rally at Madison Sq. Backyard being solely the most recent low level. Paramount introduced this week that Stewart will keep on as Monday host by means of December 2025. On election night time, he’ll anchor a stay present that begins at 11 p.m. and runs for one hour. He hopes to remain awake for its entirety. “Clearly, I’ll be saved within the hyperbaric chamber for a lot of the day,” Stewart says. “Possibly after a half hour, I’ll pull out a Murphy mattress.”
Jon Stewart: Hey, man, what’s happening?
Vainness Honest: A lot. You sound such as you’re out and about.
Yeah, I’m driving to a gig. I’m on the highway—as a result of present enterprise is a glamorous occupation—on the highway to Albany. So if I lose you, I’m a bit of bit within the mountains proper now. I wish to get out each month or so and do a weekend. And I like driving. So I’m doing Albany tonight, driving to Worcester tomorrow, after which driving house.
We’re speaking 10 or so days earlier than the election—
Is it 10? I haven’t been counting. It hasn’t actually been on my radar.
What’s your major emotion proper now? Worry, dread, anger?
Yeah, I’d say on the sphinct-ometer, I’m almost hermetically sealed. It’s very tense. I’m making an attempt to not enable the circadian rhythm of Twitter and cable information to rule over my each waking second. You realize, checking the ballot of polls and the state polls and the swing state polls. Nevertheless it’s very onerous, in a really form of neurotic approach, to not test each tent publish of electoral divining.
Effectively, that is one more reason that being on the highway is a wholesome factor.
I’ve mentioned this, and many individuals have mentioned it earlier than me: When doubtful, head to Albany. It’s your bridge over troubled waters.
The presidential race is loopy shut. The issue, clearly, is that it is best to have pushed Joe Biden out sooner to provide Kamala Harris extra time to run a marketing campaign.
So, it doesn’t matter what, we are able to nonetheless come again and lay this on my doorstep?
In fact.
So I’m the Jill Stein of Ralph Naders?
No, you had been on course about Biden’s age as a problem.
The entire concept after we first got here again was, let’s plant our flag for the 2024 election. What’s the factor that’s most viscerally on our minds in regards to the dynamic of the race? That was the genesis of the bit. You by no means know if it’s going to ring a bell. However in fact, it extra struck an offended chord of individuals going, Why would you say such a factor?! What are you doing?! And our response is at all times, We had been simply saying what we’re seeing by means of our eye holes and listening to by means of our ear holes. So we mentioned it by means of our mouth holes.
After which Biden’s disastrous debate efficiency leaves you feeling vindicated or depressed or what?
Effectively, actually depressed on a human stage, not on a political stage. This can be a person who I do have respect for and who was very useful on some points that I’ve been working by means of with some veterans teams and actually favored. You realize, he’s like a kind of guys in your city—you go in and you’ve got espresso, and there’s Frank on the desk; he’s simply holding court docket. Biden is the mayor of each city, who occurred to be president. It’s tied up in not solely political realities, however in human realities, within the acquainted sense that each one of our reveals get canceled sooner or later.
The previous month or so, throughout the episodes you host, Harris has been a minor presence, whereas there’s a variety of materials about Trump. Is that as a result of she’s boring or as a result of he’s singularly harmful?
