“The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart accused President Trump and the Republican Party of “blatant hypocrisy” when it comes to free speech protections in a scathing, 10-minute rant.
“They [Republicans] so fetishize free speech — this thing that they do not in any way actually practice,” Stewart said during his show on Monday.
“These guys don’t give a f–k about free speech!” he added. “They care about their speech. It’s so blatant hypocrisy.”
Jon Stewart accused President Trump and the Republican Party of “blatant hypocrisy” when it comes to free speech protections. The Daily ShowThe left-wing comic took issue with several actions taken by Trump since his inauguration — like barring Associated Press staffers from White House events for refusing to bend to his will over the newly renamed Gulf of America, reportedly cracking down on liberal law firms and trying to deport anti-Israel protesters.
Stewart also aired clips of Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Jeanine Pirro; Donald Trump Jr.’s ex-fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle; and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) lamenting a Democratic campaign against free speech.
“But luckily, our national free speech nightmare recently came to an end when we entered the golden age,” Stewart said sarcastically.
“The Daily Show” then aired a montage of Trump boasting about the return of free speech, saying, “We have saved free speech in America” and “Free speech in America, it’s back.”
But Stewart pointed to Trump’s attacks on the media — calling CNN and MSNBC illegal and calling for CBS News and ABC News to lose their licenses — as evidence of a double standard.
“Generally, you have to search the archives for contradictions on one’s stated principles, dig through policy papers to uncover private actions that are undermined by someone’s public stance, but this is so blatant,” Stewart said as he held his head in his hands.
President Trump has boasted about the return of his free speech, saying, “We have saved free speech in America.” Getty Images“I can’t wrap my head around it,” he continued.
The Post reached out to the White House for comment.
Stewart also took aim at Trump’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion, specifically an internal document that flagged dozens of blacklisted words to National Science Foundation staffers working on new studies, according to the Washington Post.
Jon Stewart argued that Trump’s attacks on the media are evidecne of his double standards. The Daily Show“You can’t say words like women? Or sex? Or #MeToo?” Stewart said. “How can a lot of your cabinet members describe their weekends?”
“You know you can’t protest in a way that offends the right, you can’t teach things that the right doesn’t want you to teach, you can’t read things that the right doesn’t want you to read, you can’t use words that they don’t want you to use,” Stewart continued, “but they love free speech!”
“At least we’ll always have art,” he quipped in a dig at Trump, who complained this week about an unflattering portrait of himself that had been on display at the Colorado Capitol.
The portrait is set to be taken down after complaints from Republican leaders, according to a spokesperson for the Colorado House Democrats.





