Jon Stewart Believes America ‘Will Prevail’ Despite Donald Trump’s ‘Gleeful Cruelty’
Whenever Jon Stewart comes out of his cozy bunker beneath Stephen Colbert’s desk, fans of The Late Show know that the comedian has something important to say. Unsurprisingly, President Donald Trump’s recent behavior was the motivation behind his latest return to television.
As reported by Variety, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert reunited on Thursday night, but the fellow former Daily Show costars didn’t spend the evening catching up and having a few laughs. Instead, Colbert graciously allowed Stewart to use his late-night CBS show as a soapbox to deliver a message to President Donald Trump and the American people.
Stephen Colbert’s audience erupted into applause when Jon Stewart popped up from underneath The Late Show host’s recently renovated desk to check up on his old friend. Colbert was struggling to express his feelings about how badly the president has been “Trumping” things up lately when Stewart stepped in and offered to give him a break from having to talk about all things Trump.
Jon Stewart began by reminding Donald Trump that he was one of the many celebrities that the president used to rant about on Twitter. As reported by Vox, Trump once used his favorite social media platform to complain about the comedian changing his name from Jonathan Leibowitz to Jon Stewart. Stewart’s take on the tweet was that Trump simply wanted to make sure that everyone knew that he was Jewish. And thus, Stewart’s “F*ckface Von Clownstick” insult was born.
If Jon Stewart is so above it all & legit, why did he change his name from Jonathan Leibowitz? He should be proud of his heritage!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2013
Amazing how the haters & losers keep tweeting the name “F**kface Von Clownstick” like they are so original & like no one else is doing it…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2013
During his seven-minute monologue, Jon Stewart didn’t refer to the president by the colorful nickname, but he did accuse Donald Trump of being “gleefully” cruel. He told Trump that he understands that the president finds all the “fake news” about his behavior upsetting, but he tried to get Trump to see things from other peoples’ perspectives by pointing out that its been difficult for many Americans to adjust to seeing their president cozy up to the likes of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.
“It’s just that we’re all still having a hard time adjusting to your presidency as it goes into its 500th year,” Stewart quipped. “Everything is off its axis. It’s a little unusual. Apparently, now Putin and Kim Jong Un are noble, intelligent role models, and Canada’s a bunch of giant a**holes. That’s hard to get used to.”
Jon Stewart went on to explain that what makes Donald Trump’s actions even harder for many to accept is the way that he behaves while carrying them out. He suggested that the president revels in causing pain and suffering.
“One hallmark to your presidency we’re finding the most difficult is that no matter what you do it always comes with an extra layer of gleeful cruelty and d*ckishness.”
During his rant, Stewart mentioned Trump’s attacks on terminally ill GOP Senator John McCain and the president’s suggestion that some of the women who have accused him of assault aren’t credible because he doesn’t find them physically attractive. Stewart also took on Trump’s treatment of undocumented immigrants, which he called “a Dickensian level of villainy.”
The comedian’s monologue wasn’t all doom and gloom; he ended it with a message of hope for those who are despairing over Donald Trump’s presidency. It included some advice on what they need to do to ultimately “prevail” over Trump.
“What Donald Trump wants is for us to stop calling his cruelty, and fear and divisiveness wrong. But to join him in calling it right,” he said. “This we will not do. By not yielding we will prevail.”
