Jon Stewart agrees to do ‘unedited’ interview with Elon Musk
Jon Stewart criticized Elon Musk after highlighting a contradiction in the billionaire’s claim of political neutrality. Musk said he would appear on “The Daily Show” if the interview aired “unedited.”
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Jon Stewart is back behind his late-night desk, and his ire for President Donald Trump is as strong as ever.
During Monday night’s show, the “Daily Show” host poked fun at Trump’s recent comments alluding to the possibility of a third term − a scenario banned by the Constitution.
The 22nd Amendment bars people from being elected to the presidency more than twice.
“I’m sorry, considering the option?” Stewart quipped. “What are you trying to order off menu from the Constitution? Oh yeah, I see you got two terms here, but can I get it animal style?”
Stewart’s bit is in response to recent comments from Trump in which he insisted he was “not joking” about the possibility of holding office for a third time.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News. “There are methods which you could do it.” One of the methods he described included Vice President JD Vance running in 2028, winning and then ceding power to Trump. He refused to outline the other methods.
“Yes, there are other methods,” Stewart shot back in his segment, “You tried one a few years ago.” His joke is in reference to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, in which Trump urged supporters to object to the certification of President Joe Biden’s win. Answering his call, an army of supporters broke into the Capitol, threatening the lives of sitting officials and ultimately serving jail time.
Trump continues to falsely maintain that he won the 2020 election.
“There are other methods for staying in power beyond when you are legally allowed to be there,” Stewart continued in his bit. “Historically, some of them involve catapults.”
Stewart also turned his ire to Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and Trump‘s right-hand man, whose Department of Government Efficiency has been rapidly gutting much of the federal workforce.
“So aside from the president saying, ‘I’m not leaving,’ is there any other image of the shambolic state of our democracy?” the comedian asked. “Perhaps something that looks like what you might get if you fed ‘the destruction of democracy’ into an A.I. meme generator? Oh, right. Elon Musk. OK.”
Stewart poked fun at Musk, who had attended a rally in Wisconsin aimed at influencing a closely watched Supreme Court race in the state. While the race is supposed to be nonpartisan, the face-off between Brad Schimel, the clear conservative candidate, and liberal Susan Crawford has become a key temperature check on voters’ moods about both national parties. It is also shaping up to be a referendum on President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and GOP dominance back in Washington.
Musk has poured large amounts of money into the race.
Musk and Stewart have toyed with the idea of an on-air interview − the tech mogul said he would appear on the “Daily Show” if it aired unedited, to which Stewart agreed. Next steps remain unclear.
Contributing: Riley Beggin, Savannah Kuchar, USA TODAY
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