Posted in: Comedy Central, TV | Tagged: jimmy kimmel, the daily show

The Daily Show: Jon Stewart Responds to ABC Suspending Jimmy Kimmel

Jon Stewart stepped in to host tonight's The Daily Show to address ABC suspending Jimmy Kimmel and Donald Trump's attacks on free speech.

ABC announced that it had "pre-empted indefinitely" Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday evening, a move that came at the end of a day that began with Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr urging local network affiliates to remove Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their stations over Kimmel's comments regarding Tyler Robinson, the suspect who has been charged with killing conservative activist and advisor Charlie Kirk. Shortly after, Nexstar and Sinclair would do just that, announcing that the late-night show was removed from their stations, with Sinclair adding a list of concessions they would need from Kimmel for it to reconsider their decision. On Thursday, Comedy Central announced that Jon Stewart would return to The Daily Show to anchor tonight's show (which was initially set to have Desi Lydic at the anchor desk), news that led many to believe that Stewart would address Kimmel's suspension.

With the set now displaying golden news frame and decorations, Stewart's introduction set the tone for what was to come: "From Comedy Central, it's the all-new, government-approved 'Daily Show,' with your patriotically obedient host, Jon Stewart!" Like how NBC late-night host Seth Meyers began his segment this evening, Stewart took on the role of a show host who is now more than happy to make Trump happy.

"Our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech. Now, some naysayers may argue that this administration's speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy, a thin gruel of a ruse, a smoke screen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitary intimidation, principleless and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance. Some people would say that, not me, though! I think it's great!" Stewart joked, adding that he wasn't even sure who this "Johnny Dribble Live ABC character is" (referring to Kimmel). "We're coming to you tonight from a real shit hole, the crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no one's ever seen before. Someone's National Guard should invade this place. Am I right?" Stewart added.

From there, Stewart noted that people may have been feeling "a little off these past couple of days," and that it was probably due to Trump traveling abroad for his second trip to the U.K. Stewart went on to show a run of clips showing Trump in a number of awkward situations over the course of his trip. The Daily Show host would use a clip of a reporter at a U.K. press conference asking Trump if free speech was more under attack in Britain or the U.S. as a segue into a satirical take on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

"There's something called a 'Talent-O-Meter.' It's a completely scientific instrument that is kept on the President's desk, and it tells the President when a performer's 'TQ' — talent quotient, measured mostly by niceness to the president, goes below a certain level," Stewart explained. "At this point, the FCC must be notified to threaten the acquisition prospects for billion-dollar mergers of network affiliates. These affiliates are then asked to give ultimatums to the even larger mega corporation that controls the flow of state-approved content, or the FCC can just choose to threaten those licenses directly. It's basic science. Read your Constitution!"

Then, Stewart shifted the focus to Kimmel and the arguments against the suspended late-night host, offering examples of how Trump and the GOP have done the same things that they're now accusing others of doing. Those examples included instances of pushing unfounded conspiracy theories and debunked lies; referring to Democrats, President Joseph Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris, and others as "fascists," "traitors," and "enemies of the state;" Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Fox News' Paul Hegseth and Rachel Campos-Duffy making fun of Paul Pelosi being attacked by a hammer as an example of how Republicans mock personal tragedies. Near the end of the segment (which you can check out above), Lydic, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, Ronny Chieng, and Troy Iwata checked in via "Donaldham Linctrump Monument and Casino" to play along with now being members of "Team Trump."

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