Jon Stewart on Trump's midterms message: Big Oil and cartoonish supervillainy

There was a time before we all had to wake up to the destabilizing reality of a Donald Trump presidency. You know, when late-night comics could joke about partisan bickering rather than, say, an American leader openly praising murderous dictators while mobilizing the state to hide his involvement in a massive sex trafficking ring. But, as Jon Stewart’s Monday examination of Donald Trump’s message going into next Tuesday’s midterm elections revealed, those days are gone. Or, as Stewart so ably summed things up, “How the fuck is this real?”

Now, Trump supporters might scoff, but an exasperated Stewart brought the timely receipts. After a Fox News reporter fled abruptly from a young white male Trump rallygoer rather eloquently explaining that his main concerns going into the midterm election are the inflation and instability brought by Trump’s Iran war boondoggle (“Cut away, we’ve got a reader!”), the Daily Show host could only sit back and marvel at Trump’s actual closing message—ass, Big Oil, extortion of veterans, and attacks on Muslims and sexual abuse victims. 

First up: Ass. While Trump’s recent obsession with the tight, toned buttocks of his male supporters has no doubt caused some confusion with those attracted by his usual homophobia, Trump at least swerved back to straight-up hetero ogling by openly praising MAGA singer and fellow buddy to sex offenders Nicki Minaj. “He’s like Yogi Bear floating towards a pie on a windowsill,” Stewart accurately described Trump’s focus during Minaj’s rally speech. 

Next: Big Oil. While that young man might have been concerned that he can’t afford to fill up his truck, Trump’s focus (apart from all the big, juicy asses all around him) was on how his slogging-along Iran war has made oil companies “trillions of dollars.” Or as Stewart distilled this message to beleaguered consumers over a picture of Exxon and Shell logos, “I know you’re hurting, but these guys are killing it.”