Jon Stewart issues caution to future democratic leadership
Jon Stewart said that any future leader of the Democrat Party could be tainted by the way the left stood behind Joe Biden during his obvious decline. The comic has been out in full force this week regarding Biden, having shamed CNN on Monday for endlessly promoting a top anchor's new book about the ex-president's cognitive decline while covering his cancer diagnosis.
Speaking on his The Weekly Show podcast with Pod Save America's Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett, Stewart turned his ire to Democrats who backed Biden despite his failing health. Stewart suggested it could be similar to how the Iraq War damaged the credibility of many Republicans in the lead-up to Barack Obama and many Democrats who 'paved the way' for Donald Trump . In that same manner, it could also allow the party to bring in new blood, untainted by what Lovett referred to as 'the stink' of Biden. 'It has sown the seeds for a real—and it's an opportunity for an interesting reinvention of what this Democratic Party can be,' Stewart said. 'I actually think there should be excitement, not trepidation around what this is, but it's going to come from someone outside of it. I think anybody that has any of that stink on them is not going to be particularly successful.'
Lovett argued that there were larger problems, with no prominent Democrat running to stop Biden in 2024 'an indictment' and 'a lack of assuredness in their own worldview. It's not just that we need to overcome, I think, the stink,' he said, before Stewart interrupted to make a joke. 'By the way, if that is not a Democrat's slogan in 2028, something has gone terribly wrong,' Stewart quipped. 'Overcome the Stink.' If I don't have that on a bumper sticker...' Stewart, 62, earlier this week blasted CNN as '[expletive] weird' for touting the tome alongside news that Biden is battling an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer.
Ahead of the book's Tuesday release, it was plugged by co-author and CNN host Jake Tapper, Brian Stelter, and Jessica Dean - leading Stewart to call out specific sound bites. 'You will not believe what we found out,' Tapper says in one clip, while holding up a copy of his book. 'Don't news people have to tell you what they know when they find it out?' Stewart sarcastically responded, suggesting CNN had the chance to air such reporting a year ago. 'Isn't that the difference between news and a secret?'
Stewart ran through plethora of other CNN clips featuring talking heads flogging the book. 'Biden's health was very much in the news even before the cancer diagnosis was announced on Sunday,' Early Start host Rahel Solomon said in a segment. 'That's because of a new book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios journalist Alex Thompson,' she added. The tagline was later repeated word-for-word by CNN International anchor Ben Hunte on CNN Newsroom. 'CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, looks at a controversy the book is already generating ahead of its release on Tuesday,' Hunte added, giving the floor to CNN's media reporter.
Mere hours before, Stelter had appeared to question the timing of Biden's diagnosis, calling it 'extraordinary' and pointing out how it arrived on 'the same day audio clips of [Biden's] Robert Hur interview were all over the news.' 'The timing of former President Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis is certainly dramatic,' he said, speaking to Hunte and viewers in a clip also played by Stewart. 'Coming on the eve of a blockbuster new book about his health and his time in the White House. 'That book is 'Original Sin' by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. 'The book has been getting a lot of pre-publication publicity and buzz, as well as a lot of preorders,' Stelter continued. '[It's] because of the damning new details it contains about Biden's time in office and his decision to seek reelection in 2024.'
Another segment singled out by Stewart showed CNN Newsroom anchor Dean saying, 'This very tough news, this very challenging news,' while speaking on Biden's diagnosis. 'And at the same time, the backdrop of our colleague Jake Tapper's book with Alex Thompson coming out this week,' she quickly added. After showing a clip of anchor Dana Bash saying it's going to be a 'tough week' while touting the book, Stewart couldn't resist.
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