The Daily Show host reacts to Joe Biden dropping out of the race and Republicans’ racist and sexist lines of attack on the new Democratic presumptive nominee, Kamala Harris.
The Daily Show
It’s been two weeks since Jon Stewart last assumed The Daily Show’s anchor chair, and in that time, the race has changed completely, as Joe Biden stepped aside and made way for the vice-president, Kamala Harris.
“It’s been a week, or a decade, or … what the fuck? Oh my God, so much has happened in that week,” Stewart said on Monday evening. “The pundits all said it couldn’t happen, but it did happen, and the Republicans are not very happy about it.”
Specifically, conservative talking heads are trying to argue that Democrats are “trying to hijack democracy” with Biden stepping aside. Or, as the Fox News host Sean Hannity called it, “a coup within the Democratic party”.
“I get it!” Stewart joked. “If I thought I had this thing in the bag, and you thought you were going to be up against old Joe Biden and then they pulled this, I’d be like, ‘Ref! Ref! Open your eyes!’”
“I do understand that they’re upset,” he added. “It makes sense. So how about we do this – out of fairness, I’m a fair person, you can replace your old guy, too. That’s fine!”
As for Trump’s attempts to discredit Harris, Stewart suggested a little creativity. “What’s done is done,” he said. “You’re going to have to shift gears and recalibrate. You’ve had ‘Crooked Joe’ and ‘Sleepy Joe’ on speed dial. You’re going to need a new line of attack.”
Stewart then played a number of clips in which Republican talking heads complained that Harris “doesn’t like Jewish people”, to which the comedian, who is Jewish himself, said: “Join the club, we’re getting crushed out there right now. I’m not even sure how much we like ourselves.”
Stewart also noted sexist claims that Harris “slept her way to the top” by having sex with other politicians. “Could you try to be more subtle?” he quipped. “Joe Biden and Donald Trump literally slept their way to the top and we never heard a fucking peep about it!”
Trump, meanwhile, has attempted to smear Harris with a nickname and so far only come up with “Laffin’ Kamala”.
“I hate to say it, guys, but you tried,” Stewart laughed. “You gave it your best. I kinda think you’re going to have to go back to your classics. It’s worked for you in the past, it’s your comfort zone, I think you’re going to have to play the hits.”
Those hits would be that Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican parents, was a “DEI hire” who only made it into politics because of race.
“Two races in one person,” Stewart said in mock outrage. “If these people ever saw a Pizza Hut/Taco Bell, they’d lose their minds.”
