Jon Stewart is coming after media pundits for sensationalizing Donald Trump‘s ongoing trial. The Daily Show host said the legal proceedings have barely gotten off the ground, but are still getting an exorbitant amount of coverage in the news cycle.
“This trial will obviously be a test of the fairness of the American legal system. But it’s also a test that of the media’s ability to cover Donald Trump in a responsible way, a task they have acknowledged that they’ve performed poorly in the past,” Stewart said at the top of a Monday night (April 22) segment aptly named “America’s Most Tremendously Wanted.”
The segment featured several clips of media powerhouses — including Rachel Maddow and Brian Stelter — acknowledging that it’s the media’s job to “not get distracted” and exert some self control when covering Trump’s whereabouts, especially ahead of a presidential election.
Stewart jokingly praised them for their self-awareness. “So brave,” he said. “Well done.”
“I think, for this trial, we will see the seeds of that introspection bear fruit. Or, we will learn that learning curves are for pussies,” he said, before cutting to even more clips of pundits calling this the “trial of the century.”
“Perhaps, if we limit the coverage to the issues at hand, and try not to create an all-encompassing spectacle of the most banal of details, perhaps that would help?” Stewart then asked. He pointed out that media outlets are covering the trial so thoroughly that even Trump’s commute to and from the courthouse is breathlessly chronicled, almost like O.J. Simpson’s infamous car chase.
“Seriously, are we going to follow this guy to court every fucking day? Are you trying to make this O.J. [Simpson]? It’s not a chase. He’s commuting,” Stewart said. “So, the media’s first attempt, the very first attempt on the first day [of the trial] at self-control, it failed.”
Stewart then interrupted the segment to announce they’re “getting breaking news.” He then screened a clip of Jake Tapper interrupting a guest on CNN to announce that they received an image of Trump sitting inside of the court room.
The coverage was enough for Stewart to demand, “What the fuck are we doing?”
The Daily Show host recently returned to the late night talk show specifically to offer his political commentary ahead of the presidential election. Though he’s only hosting the show on Monday evenings, Stewart has already enjoyed a rather legendary return.
He also offered some of his own advice, noting that over-saturating the news cycle with “mundane” details will desensitize people by the time something actually newsworthy arises in Trump’s trial.
“At some point in this trial, something important and revelatory is going to happen. But none of us are going to notice because the hour spent on his speculative, facial tics,” Stewart said. “If the media tries to make us feel like the most mundane bullshit is Earth shattering, we won’t believe you when it’s really interesting. It’s your classic boy-who-cried-Wolf Blitzer.”
He concluded the segment with a final shot at mainstream news, pointing out how little we’ve learned since the 2016 election.
“We got a long ways to go here. It’s the first day of the first of [Trump’s] 438 trials to come. Pace yourselves,” he said. “And if [the media is] bored, you can always start planning how you’re going to be covering his next trial and the sober mea culpas you’ll deliver during his next term as president.”
Scroll up to watch the entire segment.
