In the aftermath of U.S. forces capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump has moved on to pressuring Cuba to cut a deal with the U.S., reiterating d his desire to takeover Greenland, urging Mexico’s president to accept U.S. intervention, and threatening military actions in Colombia and Iran. Last week also saw the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross. The Trump administration responded to the killing by smearing Good as a “domestic terrorist.”
When speaking from behind The Daily Show desk on Monday, Jon Stewart acutely commented on the president and his administration’s escalating threats of force both domestically and internationally: “What the fuck is happening? What the fuck is happening in this country? From Minnesota, to Venezuela, to Iran, to Greenland, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia.”
Comparing the mounting chaos to an amusement ride, the host observed, “We are on the Donald Trump Gravitron.” He continued, “We don’t know what up or down is. We just know it feels like we’re all gonna fight. Each moment brings another event with cataclysmic implications and consequences, and the guy at the center of it, the instigator, the catalyst of all this chaos and confusion, he’s just out there TGIF-ing it.”
Stewart also compared footage of Trump insisting that the rioters who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol (the president pardoned 1,500 of them last year) were “peaceful people” exuding “passion” and love” to Trump and his administration calling Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother who was fatally shot in the head by ICE, “highly disrespectful” and a “deranged lunatic.”
“We are in a confusing dark place,” Stewart said. “This is where, quite frankly, rule of law and institutions are kind of an important framework. But now that those are gone, what’s our North Star?” The host answered the question by rolling video of Trump saying that his “own morality” was the only thing checking his authority.
For those worrying if Trump is “feeling the burden of this moment,” Stewart assured earlier in the segment that he is not. The comedian cut to a clip of oil executives gathered at the White House to talk about expanding drilling in Venezuela when suddenty Trump interrupts the meeting to wander off and look out a window.
“Look at fucking Rubio and Vance,” joked Stewart. “Look at the faces on Heckle and Jeckle over here. Looking and smiling like, ‘Oh! Pawpaw! He is so cute! You should see him when the ice cream truck goes by!’”
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