In hard-hitting remarks during a podcast interview, Jon Stewart ripped apart Donald Trump’s temperament, criticized Hillary Clinton’s lack of clarity, even as he took on the media for what he termed as its focus on “wrong things.”
The former host of The Daily Show targeted pretty much every major player in the 2016 political season, including the Democrats.
Calling Republican presumptive nominee Trump a “man-baby,” Stewart raised the question in David Axelrod’s podcast “The Axe Files,” about his eligibility to run.
“Are you eligible to run if you are a man-baby,” Stewart, who left the popular Daily Show in August 2015, said.
“He is a man-baby. He has the physical countenance of a man and a baby’s temperament and hands.”
Of Hillary Clinton, who has faltered many times against Democratic senator Bernie Sanders, the satirist described her “a very bright woman without the courage of her convictions, because I’m not even sure what they are.”
“When I watch her campaign, it reminds me of … Magic Johnson’s talk show – it never seemed authentic and real to his personality,” he added.
Stewart, who has signed a four-year production deal with HBO, also questioned the role of the media.
“We talk about it as though it’s something incredibly different, but in truth, how different is it, really?” Stewart said.
“The media is, as usual, focused on the wrong things, and abdicating responsibility for the general filtration of toxicity. You have enormous amounts of money flowing in to crazy people who are channeling populists of years past.”
He also blamed Democrats for the rise of Trump, saying they “haven’t done enough to show people that government, that can be effective for people, can be efficient for people.”
“And if you can’t do that, then you’ve lost the right to make that change, and someone is going to come in and demagogue you.”
