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Video: Jon Stewart Explains Why He Has Secret Meetings With Obama
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 29, 2015
Modified Jul 29, 2015
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 29, 2015
Modified Jul 29, 2015
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Yesterday, Politico revealed that White House advisers had asked Daily Show host Jon Stewart to "secretly" meet with President Barack Obama. But Stewart explained last night to Larry Wilmore they just sit around and watch King Ralph.
Okay, so watching King Ralph was a joke, and Wilmore asked, "You think he was trying to influence you and the jokes you make? Isn't that irresponsible?" Stewart replied, "Well, no I think that’s what he was trying to do. Because I have a television show and we sometimes say stupid fucking things about him and his policies. So I’m pretty sure I was there because he’s run out of people to watch King Ralph with.”
Then Wilmore asked Stewart if Obama was in "doesn't give a shit" mode, and Stewart said, the president was in "I'm gonna build me a library with my name on it mode."
From Politico's story about Obama's charm offensive: "As the White House recognized, Stewart can, at times, be a more potent influence on policy than Obama himself. The 52-year-old funnyman is widely credited with changing how the government treated military veterans and Sept. 11 first responders and for the cancellation of a hyperpartisan CNN talk show. His broadsides against President George W. Bush’s Iraq War and a series of Obama missteps had a searing effect on how Americans thought about Washington."
All this gives the NY Post's Kyle Smith the opportunity to write, "
It turns out Jon Stewart isn’t our Edward R. Murrow or our Mark Twain. He’s more like our ... Jay Carney. Don’t count on future generations knowing Stewart’s name any more than they will know Carney’s." But Jay Carney isn't doing this:
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daily show
Jon Stewart
president obama
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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