It is not just that Jon Stewart defended racist comedian Tony Hinchcliffe on The Daily Show but that he is consistent in defending bigotry.

There is no place for bigotry in comedy. Being hateful is not funny. I’ve said plenty through the years about Netflix allowing hate speech in comedy specials. Only this time, we’re not talking about Netflix. We’re talking about Stewart defending a racist comedian at a Donald Trump Madison Square Garden rally drawing comparisons to the German American Bund rally at MSG in 1939. The German American Bund would morph into the America First isolationist movement against America entering World War II.

When I saw the Variety article in my inbox, I was not shocked at all. Not in the least. It shows a consistency in a trend on his part going back to at least 2021, if not earlier than that. What did surprise me is just how many were surprised by Jon Stewart defending a racist comedian and not knowing about his previous defense of Dave Chappelle. Maybe that’s because they just didn’t care about his defense of Chappelle, let alone anyone discussing antisemitism in fall 2022. Suffice it to say, I was enjoying the roasting as I scrolled down Bluesky last night and into this morning.

So what is it that The Daily Show‘s Monday night host said last night? Read it for yourself below:

“Yes, yes, of course, terrible, boo. There’s something wrong with me. I find that guy very funny. I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and having him not do roast jokes? That’d be like bringing Beyoncé to a rally and not…,”

If you are not familiar with Jon Stewart’s past, you are probably finding it to be somewhat shocking about him describing a racist comedian as “very funny” His defense of Dave Chappelle is inexcusable, both in 2021 and 2022. In October 2021, he told TMZ that the comedian’s “intention is never hurtful” and that “he’s not that kinda person.” Oh, really? Because Chappelle’s transphobia is rather consistent and hurtful. Not only this but he delved into antisemitism in specials, Saturday Night Live, and stage shows in 2022 and beyond. What did Stewart have to say about Chappelle’s antisemitic monologue on SNL? Variety’s recap is more in-depth than my own comments.

“Everybody calls me like, ‘You see Dave on SNL?’ And I say yes, we’re very good friends. I always watch and send nice texts,” Stewart began. “‘He normalized antisemitism with the monologue.’ I don’t know if you’ve been on comment sections on most news articles, but it’s pretty normal. It’s incredibly normal. But the one thing I will say is I don’t believe that censorship and penalties are the way to end antisemitism or to gain understanding. I don’t believe in that. It’s the wrong way for us to approach it.” […]

“Dave said something in the ‘SNL’ monologue that I thought was constructive, which he says, ‘It shouldn’t be this hard to talk about things,’” Stewart said. “I’m called antisemitic because I’m against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. I’m called other things from other people based on other opinions that I have, but those shut down debate… Whether it be comedy or discussion or anything else, if we don’t have the wherewithal to meet each other with what’s reality then how do we move forward? If we all just shut it down, then we retreat to our little corners of misinformation and it metastasizes. The whole point of all this is to not let it metastasize and to get it out in the air and talk about it.”

When it comes to Jon Stewart and Israel, I’ll just direct readers to the transcript of his July 2014 conversation on The Daily Show with Hillary Clinton. Clinton had already stepped down as Secretary of State by this point. She wasn’t taking his bait in referring to Hamas as resistance or freedom fighters.

Please subscribe to Dugout Dirt and Solzy on Buttondown.