Jon Stewart hit out at Donald Trump‘s “big beautiful bill” on the latest episode of The Daily Show, immediately pointing out all of the things the so-called spending bill aims to cut.
“It’s a lot of painful cuts on a lot of vulnerable populations,” Stewart quipped. “But, to be fair, at least America will finally make a dent on the deficit.” He then played a news clip noting that the deficit will actually increase $3.4 trillion. “Holy shit!” he replied. “You what? You somehow managed to severely cut the safety net and expand the deficit. That’s impressive. That’s one of those, ‘Hey man, how did you gain all that weight?’ ‘Ozempic.’ That’s something that’s hard to do!”
He added, playing a clips about spending boosts to the military and immigration enforcement, “So even though some of our nation’s most vulnerable are taking a pay cut, fear not. Other people are getting a raise.” This includes $150 billion for ICE. “Are you telling me all this crazy shit that has been happening is broke ICE?” Stewart responded. “Is that what you’re saying? What is ICE going to do when they have real money?”
Stewart noted that while the bill was a “victory for MAGA,” it encapsulates “a ton of general Washington bullshittery.” “For instance, political hypocrisy,” he said. “This bill was 970 pages. They jammed it through with barely any time to read it. How did Republicans feel about that when Democrats did it?” He then played a series of old clips of Republican politicians criticizing Democrats for doing the exact same thing.
“When it happens to them it’s shoving it down their throats,” Stewart said. “It’s an outrage. But when it’s for Republicans it’s just, ‘Come on, America. Relax the glottis. Breathe through your nose. It will all be over soon.’”
He added that Democrats did literally nothing to stop the bill and then bragged about “the nothing they could do.” That included Chuck Schumer moving to change the name of the bill and Hakeem Jeffries posting a photo of himself with a baseball bat. Ultimately, Stewart concluded that Republicans are suggesting that it’s “fiscally irresponsible to build a stronger floor for everyone to stand on if it may, in any way, lower the already-astronomical ceiling height experienced by the rare few.”
“This bill is the most fucked up performance review our country could ever deliver,” Stewart said. “It’s the government sitting us all down and telling us where we’re been irresponsible with the spending.”
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He added, “Blaming migrants and the able-bodied poor is why Trump won this election. But a system where working people struggle so much is [Zohran] Mamdani won his election. And for all the people who are worried about Mamdani’s socialist tendencies, guess what? He’s the best-case scenario because this system is not sustainable. And if this doesn’t change, there’s gonna be more drastic action.”
Elsewhere on the late-night show, former 60 Minutes journalist Steve Kroft joined Stewart to discuss Paramount’s recent $16 million settlement with Donald Trump. Stewart noted that the settlement was “devastating to the people who work in a place that prides themselves on contextual good journalism.”
“Devastating is a good word,” Kroft replied. “I think there’s a lot of fear over there. Fear of losing their job, fear of what’s happening to the country, fear of losing the First Amendment, all of those things.” He added that the settlement “was a shakedown.”
From Rolling Stone US
