Jon Stewart returned to a familiar style of comedy on Monday night. He focused on the hypocrisy of Republicans regarding his free speech. Also, he commented on a major mistake made by the Trump administration. The error was unintentionally texting classified military plans to a journalist. Continue reading to hear more about Jon Stewart’s criticism of Trump and Republicans’ hypocrisy regarding free speech.
Accidental Text Message
Stewart began his analysis by making fun of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth’s group text discussed plans to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen. This message accidentally went to Jeffrey Goldberg. He is the editor of Atlantic magazine.
Stewart joked that back in his day if a journalist wanted to leak war documents, they had to meet the sources in a dark garage. However, he contrasted that with today’s situation where important information can be sent out carelessly. Also, he added humor by saying that a national security advisor could be distracted watching “The White Lotus”. This is while sending out sensitive documents.
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Highlighting Political Hypocrisy
Stewart then shifted the focus to the broader issue of hypocrisy among Republicans. He pointed out their obsession with free speech while wanting to censor many other voices. Also, he referenced how some conservatives complain about “thought police” from the left. However, they themselves advocate for banning CNN from airing.
Also, he mentioned that generally, one has to search the archives for contradictions on one’s stated principles. However, he found the current situation to be very clear and blatant. He pointed out that they fetishize free speech. But, they do not actually practice it.
Examples of Censorship
Stewart provided examples to support his argument. He mentioned how Trump once banned the Associated Press from the White House. This happened when AP refused to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”. Also, he recalled the detainment of Columbia University student protester, Mahmoud Khalil, as another example of free speech being stifled. Stewart concluded that they do not care about free speech. He mentioned that they only care about their speech.
Stephen Kolbert’s Take
Stephen Colbert also commented on the Trump administration during his own late-night show. He described the nation as a “beautiful pastry spread of freedom and opportunity”. Also, Colbert recently attended the Kennedy Center event. This is where Conan O’Brien received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Colbert highlighted Trump’s recent meeting with his loyal supporters at the Kennedy Center. This was while discussing the event. Trump expressed his desire to make programming more conservative during this meeting. Also, Colbert joked about Trump wanting to include “non-woke musicals”. He defined it as any musical suitable for one’s father.
Trump also expressed interest in hosting the Kennedy Center’s Honors Event. Colbert found this amusing. He mentioned that he was willing to trade hosting at the Kennedy Center’s Honors event. In turn, he would like to be the President.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Comments
Jimmy Kimmel joined the conversation as well. He mentioned the Trump administration’s blunder of leaking military information. Also, he mentioned that national security is being guarded by a bunch of doofs. They could not be trusted to throw one’s cousin at a surprise party.
He pointed out that nobody in the chain of command thought to question who Jeffrey Goldberg was. They could have been leaking secrets to anyone. This could even be Jeff Goldblum. Most importantly, Kimmel emphasized the seriousness of the mistake. He reminded that if Joe Biden’s administration had made this kind of mistake, it would have garnered a lot of media attention.
