Jon Stewart may have stepped away from his celebrated tenure as host of “The Daily Show” this summer, but that hasn’t stopped him from savaging politicians for their hypocrisy and hubris.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Stewart singled out 2016 GOP front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday for some hard-hitting ridicule during a performance at a Stand Up for Heroes benefit event in New York City.
“When I was doing the program, we liked to make jokes about him, because he’s hilarious and easily mockable,” said Stewart, according to EW. “We would mock him with things such as, ‘He looks like a bewigged boiled ham,’ or something like that. So he would tweet in the middle of the night, ‘Jon Stewart’s real name is Leibowitz. He’s a Jew. Why does he run away from his heritage?’ You know, because that’s what I think most presidents would do. I remember Lincoln used to drunk tweet: ‘Hey, emancipate this, you f—!’”
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Trump’s very active social media presence has been a source of fascination and criticism for years, most recently serving as inspiration for a “Saturday Night Live” sketch. The real estate mogul has slammed Stewart several times in the past, highlighting the comic’s decision to change his name (which Stewart has been very forthcoming about) and his talent. “I promise you that I’m much smarter than Jonathan Leibowitz – I mean Jon Stewart @TheDailyShow. Who, by the way, is totally overrated,” Trump tweeted in 2013. Earlier this year Trump denied ever attacking Stewart for his “phony last name” on Twitter.
In July, not long after Trump announced his candidacy for president, Stewart said during an episode of “The Daily Show” that the only reason the ex-reality television star was getting traction was “because of the terrible things he was willing to say about Obama.”
“Trump has no control over the projectile vomit of d–kishness that comes out of his mouth every time he opens it. It was inevitable some of his word puke was gonna get on you,” Stewart said at the time. At the Stand Up for Heroes event on Tuesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Stewart remained apoplectic about the possibility of a Trump White House.
“Are we really doing this Donald Trump thing? We’re really doing that as a country?” Stewart said. “He’s f—-d. I like to put my name in giant letters on everything I own as much as the next guy, but the only other people that do that are like 8-year-olds going to camp.”
He later said the Trump candidacy was “like an Internet comment troll ran for president.”
“People are like, ‘I like Trump; he says what he thinks.’ What he thinks is stupid,” Stewart added to big laughs, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s like if your friend is like, ‘I would like to f— your mom.’ Why would you say that? … I don’t give a s–t if you’re politically correct, just be correct, correct.”
Stewart also directed some of his fire at the ascendant Dr. Ben Carson, whose soft spoken delivery he reportedly imitated, and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, who he reportedly said will become president “even if she loses.”
“She will not be denied,” Stewart quipped, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Although Stewart has insisted he is “done” with his signature brand of political comedy, he did recently ink a four-year production deal with pay cable giant HBO. “Jon Stewart led a revolution that changed the face of TV comedy on the ‘Daily Show,’” said HBO programming president Michael Lombardo in a statement on Nov. 3. “He graced our network nearly 20 years ago, so we’re thrilled to welcome back his immense talents in this next chapter of his career.”
“Appearing on television 22 minutes a night clearly broke me,” Stewart added in the same press release. ”I’m pretty sure I can produce a few minutes of content every now and again.”
