It’s now been more than a year since Jon Stewart left his Daily Show post, but he’s been far from pulpit-less during what’s easily the most baffling presidential race ever. Stewart’s reunited with Stephen Colbert on multiple occasions to deride and despair of the proceedings, and also turned some philanthropic appearances into opportunities to remind the American public that a significant portion of its population is considering electing someone who’s gleefully admitted to groping women without their consent to the highest office in the land. We’re referring to Donald Trump, of course, who was locked in a Twitter war with Stewart long before he had a private email server on which to hang his racist hat.
Stewart recalled their 2013 dispute—which began with Trump “harmlessly” wondering why the comedian doesn’t go by Leibowitz—while at a Stand Up For Heroes fundraiser on Tuesday night.
Stewart’s ears have long been attuned to Trump’s dog whistles, so he pointed out that all the persimmon-faced businessman wanted to accomplish with those tweets about his “heritage” was call attention to the fact that he’s Jewish, something the comedian doesn’t think needs underscoring. So he dubbed Trump “Fuckface Von Clownstick,” a rebranding that sent Trump into one of his now trademark, dead-of-night apoplectic fits.
The rest would be history, if not for Trump’s pretensions to the White House, which again, Stewart cannot believe is still a thing. “What is happening?” Stewart asked of the event audience. “I thought we were done three weeks ago.” His fellow Stand Up For Heroes performers, including Louis CK, didn’t stir up any controversy of their own. America’s cool uncle Bruce Springsteen even offered to calm everyone down with the promise of a ride in his 1967 Cadillac.