President Donald Trump‘s refusal to return a Maryland man illegally deported to El Salvador, desire to deport U.S. citizens, and attack of free speech at universities and media outlets prompted Jon Stewart to compare Trump to his authoritarian counterparts.
In a game called “How Authoritarian Is We?,” Stewart dedicated Monday night’s Daily Show monologue to assessing how Trump’s garish decor at the Oval Office, sycophantic cabinet, and dubious physical exam add up alongside the likes of “your Putins, your Xis, your Anna Wintours.”
While Stewart has criticized Democrats for being too eager to call Trump a “fascist,” it seems that the late-night host has had a change of heart following Trump’s escalating attacks on the free press, judges, lawyers, and other perceived threats to his regime. After rolling a news clip of a journalist asking the president if he would be “open” to deporting U.S citizens, Trump replies: “If it’s a homegrown criminal, I have no problem…I’m talking about really bad people. Really bad people.”
“He’s gonna do that to U.S. citizens. I think the hosts of The View are about to get administratively error’d,” quipped Stewart. “I did not think we would get this authoritarian this fast,” he continued. “I really didn’t. I’m sorry. Who could’ve known? Maybe if somebody out there had yelled at me on Bluesky about this, I would have known. But no one did, except every day, in all caps.”
Elsewhere, the host played clips of Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and more of the president’s employees showering him with praises. Still, Stewart noted that “any run of the mill authoritarian can get the praises from those that fear him.” “The OGS, the real autocrats extract something much, much weirder and humiliating, the forced uncomfortable laughter,” said Stewart, before rolling a video of Trump’s cabinet awkwardly chuckling to the president’s attempt at a joke.
Before wrapping his monologue, Stewart concluded, “So Trump’s got it all, authoritarian-wise: the looks, the attitude, the relentless dissent-crushing — All the ingredients to be a top-tier authoritarian.” However, a reel of Trump’s tariff blunders and stock market chaos, worsening measles outbreak, and DOGE’s haphazard dismantling of the government, prompted Stewart to declare that the president has yet to “bring it home with his ruthless competence.”
From Rolling Stone US
