Comedian Jon Stewart is urging Americans to vote against what he called “this reckless shitshow of an administration” in a final appeal ahead of next week’s midterm elections.
Stewart made the comments on his Weekly Show podcast, sharing a clip of his remarks on social media Tuesday ahead of the episode’s Wednesday broadcast.
“I’d like to frame it as a, ‘However you’ll vote,’ but I don’t mean that,” Stewart said. “I mean it as, please send a message to this reckless s–tshow of an administration that enough is enough, that we have had it, that it is time for someone to step up and provide, I believe the framers referred to them as checks and balances, on this utterly imperious administration.”
While Stewart made clear he wants Democrats to win at the ballot box, he has previously pushed back against calls within his party to pursue impeachment of the current president, arguing it would amount to theater without real consequences.
“We’ve already shown there’s no accountability. What I want to see is a full government effort on rebalancing this economy. This is about triage and the corruption of that family — f—ing let them drain us like they think they’re gonna drain us. Wall it off so it doesn’t infect the rest of the economy and spend a total government effort at rebalancing labor vs. capital with real ideas,” Stewart said.
He said he did not want to see Congress stage a prolonged series of hearings that produce spectacle but little else.
“I don’t want to see a f—ing five-act performative play of House hearings. I just don’t want to see it. I don’t want to see everybody having the opportunity to pantomime accountability because you know they’re actually not going to bring it,” he added.
Stewart said he supports investigations in principle but believes President Trump will ultimately “run out the clock” on any inquiries.
“You want to do some investigations into some shit, that’s great, but on the triage list of what’s wrong in this country, it is, I’m sorry, sir, you’re gonna have to stay in the waiting room because this guy just got shot and it sounds to me like you just have a sore throat. Do the sh*t that is actually killing people right now,” he said.
He pointed to the aftermath of the January 6 investigations as evidence that congressional hearings rarely deliver lasting accountability.
“We’ve been in those hearings. If you couldn’t bring accountability to January 6 in two years, what confidence do any of us have that you’re going to be able to untangle Eric and Don’s drone company?” Stewart said.
