Jon Stewart joins liberal Biden critics calling for a ‘conversation’
“The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart used his weekly 30 minutes of Comedy Central airtime to join the growing list of liberal celebrities to question President Joe Biden’s mental acuity.
The 61-year-old funnyman stopped short of suggesting the president abort his re-election bid and also asserted that Biden’s opponent, Republican nominee Donald Trump, is hardly a stable genius.
“Many Democrats have expressed concern that the president has a hard time… uh… expressing thoughts,” Stewart said with a comedic pause. “Then there’s this other camp that thinks those people should the f–k up.”
Biden’s lucidity became one of the leading issues in the 2024 presidential campaign when the 81-year-old leader struggled to complete sentences during a 90-minute debate with Donald Trump late last month. The GOP nominee repeatedly spewed disinformation that the president failed to address in his rebuttals.
Stewart made his point by showing Biden embarrassingly stumbling through numerous speeches during Monday night’s “The Daily Show.”
“To my mind, the debate was a shocking display of cognitive difficulty,” said Stewart, comparing Biden’s performance to watching elderly parents in decline.
He then gave examples of questionable behavior by Trump, 78, including the suggestion “very fine people” marched alongside neo-Nazis protesting the removal of Confederate statues in Virginia in 2017. Stewart also reminded viewers of Trump’s alleged incitement of the deadly Jan. 6, 2001 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The difference, according to Stewart, is that Americans have come to expect Trump to behave erratically.
“I am in no way saying Biden’s gotta’ drop out,” Stewart clarified. “But can’t we stress-test this candidacy? Can’t we open up the conversation?”
While it’s Stewart’s belief the Democratic party has four months to figure out a plan to defeat Trump, outspoken progressives like author Stephen King and filmmaker Rob Reiner called for Biden to step down in the aftermath of his disastrous debate performance. Both storytellers received heavy backlash on X, where their suggestion were posted at the start of this week.
The president insists he’s staying in the race and has vowed to win re-election.
