When Donald Trump appeared poised to win the presidential election in 2016, Trevor Noah, then the host of The Each day Present, started this system’s reside night-of particular on a somber notice. “It seems like the top of the world,” he stated to a silent viewers. “I’m not going to lie. I don’t know in case you’ve come to the precise place for jokes tonight, as a result of that is the primary time all through this complete race the place I’m formally shitting my pants.”
On Tuesday evening, Noah’s predecessor, Jon Stewart, returned to anchor the identical reside presidential election-night particular for the primary time since 2012, and Stewart’s temper was noticeably lighter than Noah’s. Stewart didn’t make any apocalyptic declarations; as an alternative, he appeared determined to make his studio viewers chortle—“We’re clearly digging via the outcomes to search out some that you simply like!”—with out reminding them an excessive amount of of the election’s seemingly final result, which had begun to make clear when the hour started. Stewart might have constructed his status as an acerbic comedic truth-teller, however on Tuesday evening, he appeared subdued, extra keen on soothing his viewers than in delivering biting assessments of the returns.
The general method felt oddly inert, maybe an indication of how complicated the world of political comedy has change into. That’s partly as a result of comedians got here to play a considerable position in Trump’s third presidential marketing campaign. Trump and his operating mate, J. D. Vance, went on a tour of podcasts hosted by comics who attraction to younger male voters, together with Tim Dillon, Theo Von, and Joe Rogan. Trump’s crew additionally invited the comedian (and one other podcaster) Tony Hinchcliffe to take the stage at a rally final month at Madison Sq. Backyard, the place he made disparaging remarks about Puerto Ricans that obtained the type of backlash many pundits referred to as this 12 months’s “October shock.”
Neglect attaining movie star endorsements from pop stars and Hollywood’s A-list expertise, in different phrases. Each Trump and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, appeared to acknowledge the necessity for unconventional types of outreach, however the Trump marketing campaign specifically eschewed conventional journalists in favor of provocative comics and hosts who would supply pleasant platforms for the previous president. “A survey of many hours of conversations between these comedians and Trump principally reveals slavish affection,” noticed The New York Instances of Trump’s podcast appearances, “and even a sure kinship … Trump and his hosts share a disdain of reports media, a reflexive paranoia about so-called cancel tradition, a enjoyment of transgression and a love of merciless insult jokes.”
That shift towards comedians as sources of ideological validation has left established satirists reminiscent of Stewart in an odd place. Although Stewart has loved loads of success this election 12 months—his return because the Monday-night anchor for The Each day Present helped reverse the viewership decline that occurred throughout Noah’s stewardship, and his contract was lately prolonged via 2025—he continues to face an uphill battle in sustaining his influence.
Because the face of a long-running tv program, Stewart is constrained by rankings considerations and runtime logistics, however he’s additionally dedicated to performing a routine that’s barely modified over time: a gap monologue, adopted by correspondent-led segments, a visitor interview, and a “second of zen.” The brand new cohort of podcasters may additionally care about viewers engagement, however they’re nimbler with their content material—they usually’re changing into extra influential because of this. Stewart’s chosen platform for his comedian punditry isn’t the dominant method for political comedy anymore. (A number of of The Each day Present’s offshoots, reminiscent of Samantha Bee’s Full Frontal, Larry Wilmore’s The Nightly Present, and Jordan Klepper’s The Opposition, did not final, and on Tuesday, The Each day Present was the one late-night present to air a reside particular.)
But Stewart has appeared reluctant to regulate his technique—or to criticize the actions of a few of his friends. Be aware how he responded to Hinchcliffe’s set on the Trump rally: On an episode of The Each day Present, he praised Hinchcliffe as “very humorous” and defended him in opposition to the unfavorable information protection of his set. In some methods, Stewart did what he’s usually accomplished: take intention on the bigger establishment of the media moderately than a fellow comedian. However by sidestepping the chance to scrutinize the expansion of the comedian-to-campaign-influencer pipeline, he averted analyzing his personal position as a purveyor of political humor.
Different comedians have been extra keen to contemplate their discipline’s shifting duty. In a Substack publish, the ex–Each day Present correspondent Wyatt Cenac chided his former boss for his response to Hinchcliffe. “For Jon, it looks as if comedians ought to be free to say no matter they need, wherever they need,” Cenac wrote. “And he appears extra keen to defend the concept the circumstances surrounding their jokes are irrelevant so long as individuals chortle.” These “circumstances”—taking levels at rallies moderately than golf equipment, providing their podcasts as outstanding marketing campaign stops—have additionally caught the eye of Marc Maron, one of the crucial outstanding podcast-hosting comedians. Maron posted an announcement to his web site every week earlier than the election criticizing contemporaries he believed had change into mouthpieces for misinformation and informal bigotry. “The anti-woke flank of the brand new fascism is being pushed virtually solely by comics, my friends,” he wrote. “Whether or not or not they’re self-serving or true believers within the new fascism is unimportant … When comedians with podcasts have shameless, self-proclaimed white supremacists and fascists on their present to joke round like they’re simply entertainers and even simply politicians, all it does is humanize and normalize fascism.”
Maron’s feedback double as a requirement that his fellow performers acknowledge the stakes of collaborating on this political second. However the comedy world’s response to these stakes has run the gamut. Maybe among the podcasters he’s calling out wish to wield precise energy to sway voters—and subsequently, just like the highly effective leaders they’re catering to, construct a devoted fan base of their very own. Different comics, just like the crew behind Saturday Night time Reside’s “Weekend Replace,” may even see their position as entertainers meant principally to gesture on the points driving headlines. After this newest election cycle, the one factor that appears clear is that political comedy—the purpose of working towards it, the altering taste of its affect—is rising ever muddier.
For Tuesday evening’s reside present, in the meantime, Stewart opted to supply principally distraction. His punch strains have been as comfortable as his evaluation of election outcomes, struggling to dispel the undercurrent of unease. That’s not completely Stewart’s fault: His viewers appeared tense from the beginning, and the present confronted some sudden developments, together with introduced visitor Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania canceling on the final minute, forcing Stewart to improvise and fill the additional time. Solely on the finish of the hour did Stewart absolutely embrace his personal misery on the election returns, placing his head in his fingers as he delivered a closing assertion. “Look,” he started, earlier than groaning and stumbling over his phrases. “What we all know is that we actually don’t know something … I simply wish to level out, simply as a matter of perspective, that the teachings that our pundits take away from these outcomes, that they are going to pronounce with certainty, will likely be flawed. And we’ve got to do not forget that.”
The plainspoken commentary was a refreshing second that reduce via the previous aimlessness—but it surely additionally revealed a reality in regards to the comedic style’s stalwarts, like Stewart. Individuals look to voices reminiscent of his in anxious moments; it’s why SNL has booked the sometimes no-holds-barred stand-up Invoice Burr to host its postelection present this weekend. But Stewart has by no means claimed to be something greater than a performer, even when he was deemed the “most trusted man in America” throughout his preliminary run internet hosting The Each day Present. As he identified, none of us is aware of something—maybe, least of all, the comics who’re tasked a lot too usually with making sense of the nation’s chaos.
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