In 2016, people who knew nothing about comedy would say things like, “Comedy is going to be great under Trump.” Well, it didn’t work out like that, and nothing proves it more than the lack of theatrically released comedies in the last decade. But then a weekend like this comes along, and Donald Trump spends two days working at McDonald’s and gabbing about Arnold Palmer’s monster hog. Sadly, on tonight’s The Daily Show, Jon Stewart reminds us just how maddening this kind of crap can be. Because if you listen closely, Trump is also speaking publicly about sicking the military on “the enemy within,” i.e., his political opponents. But as members of the media allowed Trump and his cronies to poo-poo the former president’s threat against their colleagues and co-workers, Stewart argues that maybe, perhaps, just this once, we take him at his word.
“To all the Republican officials who seem very confident that Trump isn’t being serious when talking about extreme measure to defeat his enemies, he’s already tried it,” Stewart said. “Remember that day he tried to overthrow the government, and I know it didn’t work but attempted murder isn’t the same thing as never tried murder.”
“Somehow Trump’s absurdity renders him benign. We dismiss his threats because of how much fun he has expounding on the length, width, and girth of Arnold Palmer’s cock.”
While Stewart had a great monologue, with a very atypical, Newhart-inspired ending, the meat of this episode was Stewart’s interview with Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz. Taking time out from begging everyone in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Nevada to vote, Walz joined Stewart at the desk to talk about his career, his platform, and whether or not he would be taking foreign policy advice from the Cheneys (he promised he wouldn’t—remember that, folks).
For his part, Walz brought that familiar Minnesota nice we’ve been enjoying since he burst onto the national scene by calling the Republicans obsessed with everyone’s genitals “weird.” Oh, the halcyon days of three months ago, when all seemed possible, and Donald Trump gently swaying to “Ava Maria” for 35 minutes sounded like a fever dream from another dimension. As one could surmise, the interview was cordial. Stewart wasn’t throwing any fastballs—though, it seemed like Walz could’ve knocked a few dingers. The Governor spent most of the time dispelling Stewart’s assumptions that all swing voters are libertarians and describing many of them as “folks that want to find a reason to not vote for Donald Trump.”
“I think that’s the one thing when you talk to people about their aspirations; they want good jobs, they want to have safe communities, they want to have good schools,” Walz said. “They’re talking about voucherization of schools, where are you going to find a private school in a town of 400, like where I grew up?”
We don’t know, Tim, but it sounds like defunding the Department of Education would be a bad thing, right? Anyway, only two weeks are left until the election, and we feel gr-r-reat.