Jon Stewart is back from COVID hell to explain why Trump misses Biden so much

Oh, Donny, help Jon Stewart help you.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  August 12, 2024 | 11:57pm
TV News The Daily Show
Jon Stewart is back from COVID hell to explain why Trump misses Biden so much

Returning to The Daily Show after his first bout with COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, Jon Stewart marked the occasion by doing something he’s done many times before. Yes, it was once again Donald Trump’s turn to endure the satirical lashing of Jon Stewart’s barbed tongue (enjoy that image, dear reader). But while we’re excited to get to the specifics of that, we’d like to take a minute to recognize Stewart’s Trump impression. Whinier and more Jerry Lewis in execution than his contemporaries, Stewart has unlocked the irate deli patron living deep inside Donald Trump’s psyche, where a small, insecure man begs the guy at Katz’s to make him a Fish Delight. One can actually hear Stewart’s nose clogging as he ramps up his voice to say, “What are we going to do with all my Indian ethnic slurs I was gonna use?” It only took eight years, but Trump impressions on The Daily Show are finally actually funny.

The main thrust of tonight’s episode was Trump’s grief over the loss of President Joe Biden from the current Presidential election. It seems like only yesterday that Trump was riding high in the polls, surviving an assassination attempt, and dipping his toe in Project 2025. But a lot can change in a month. Now, as Stewart so breathlessly displays, this guy doesn’t know what to do. He’s cooked, washed, and should probably quit. But he’s not; instead, he’s trying to make “Kamabla” happen.

For all his joking around, Stewart seems legitimately concerned about his old friend Donald Trump. The big guy doesn’t have any new material and has begun making up Willie Brown stories to compensate. It’s like he had one of the weird goons who’s pledged lifelong fealty to Donald Trump do a find-and-replace on all speeches, swapping Kamala for Joe, and it’s just not working. Stuck repeating all his old jokes, Trump doesn’t know where to go and is just glitching and spitting out nicknames for a guy who isn’t in the race anymore. It’s really sad when you think about it for a second, but then it becomes funny when you think about it for two seconds.

Let it go, Donny. Biden’s on the beach, leaving the election to his veep and living rent-free in the Plaza of Trump’s mind. It’s time to move on. Or, alternately, don’t. Quitting is always on the table.

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