Forget Both Sides, You ‘Want to Call Out the Truth’

Just like ABC must tout Disney products, CBS Mornings on Monday hailed the return of Jon Stewart as the Maddow-style Monday-only host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. Gayle King noted both networks are part of Paramount Global, and co-host Tony Dokoupil kissed Stewart’s ring: “You`re now located atop the Paramount mountain, sir.”

King gushed: “I`m wondering if you`ve missed us as much as we`ve missed you — somebody writes about you, about Jon Stewart. “Jon Stewart was a voice of reason in my generation. It`s great to see him returning. There has been no better host of The Daily Show since he left.”

Stewart played bashful at that Trevor Noah-dissing. King asked “What went into your thought process about, “I want to come back, and I only want to come back one night a week for now”?

He referred to his canceled show on Apple TV. “I very much wanted to have some kind of place to unload thoughts as we get into this election season, election season and I thought I was going to do it over at, they call it Apple TV Plus…they decided that they didn`t, they felt that they didn`t want me to say things that might get me in trouble.” 

When they asked if he expected to have influence, Stewart played modest and suggested TV hosts don’t have the influence that full-time activists do. “I liken television to like, if you can occasionally provide air support to those on the ground who are actually doing the work. And so I don`t, I don`t view it as I really want to have an influence on this issue, election, things like that. It`s what we do.”

After Stewart criticized the notion that young viewers need to be pandered to like their brains work differently, King asked:

KING: But Jon, you do have a unique ability to call out both sides when you see that they may be fluid with the truth is how I’m trying to say.

TONY DOKOUPIL: And a unique allergy to the idea of both sides. You want to call out the truth.

Stewart picks (B), not (A). “Both sides” is for suckers. The Left is where the Truth resides. 

STEWART: I think it`s, it’s a question of, you know, what, what are the axes [plural of axis] that we’re working off of? I think generally you like to work off of the difference between corruption and integrity as opposed to right and left or Democrat and Republican. And if you focus on integrity and, and try and expose what you think is absurd or corrupt, it’ll find its way to wherever it finds. But those are the parameters that you’re trying to use.

VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: And satire is still the way you can do that?

STEWART: It`s — for me, I think it’s probably the only way I can do it because I don’t really know how else to do it.

Comedy Central bought full-page ads in the Monday New York Times and Washington Post with the phony slogan: “A Second Term We Can All Agree On.”