Daily Show's Jon Stewart destroys Fox News for its Ferguson coverage
The television presenter, satirist and writer used his characteristic wit to take down Fox for its "ignorant" reporting
Daily Show host Jon Stewart didn’t waste an ounce of time upon his return to the show – he immediately censured Fox News for its coverage of the disquiet in Ferguson, with his typical hard-hitting sketches and impassioned monologues.
Stewart returned on Tuesday night following a short summer break and was on top form, first condemning Fox’s Bill O’Reilly before laying into the tropes peddled by such anchors, including the recurring “what about black-on-black crime” question.
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He also did a skit called the Ferguson Protest Challenge, trading ice buckets for tear gas, in a statement about the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown on 9 August.
“Do you not understand that life in this country is inherently different for white people and black people?” he implored.
Later, in response to a clip showing a news interviewee saying “You know who talks about race? Racists!”, Stewart looks flabbergasted and says: “Did you just ‘he who smelt it, dealt it’ racism?”.
He tells his audience that the black population have to suffer injustices non-stop: “Race is there and it is a constant. You’re tired of hearing about it? Imagine how f***ing exhausting it is living it”.
Stewart’s takedown of Fox News joins the likes of those espoused by other critics such as comedian Russell Brand, who has been having a long-running feud with the channel and its presenters.
Stewart’s second instalment last night, tackled the rise of Isis (Islamic State), to which he gave the raging jihadists a piece of brotherly advice: “Take a good look at us. We’re living your dream. We’re the most powerful state in history. We influence the whole world. And all we talk about is how everything sucks now.”
“But you know what came after that? Two-hundred years of f**king paperwork, that’s right. And by the way, of all the places to build a new government, great job picking the one region where they go through regimes like Pringles,” he said according to Raw Story.
The Daily Show can be watched in the UK on Comedy Central Extra.
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