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On “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart broke down the chaos at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which was interrupted by a gunman. Donald and Melania Trump were forced off the stage in the Hilton ballroom and evacuatedThe event was canceled.
“It was supposed to be an evening of fun and good humor – until, like so many things in America, it was interrupted by gunfire,” Stewart said. “That’s why we can’t have nice things. And to be honest, this isn’t even a nice thing. Nobody wanted this damn dinner to begin with. We’re so screwed in this country. We can’t even have a dinner that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Hey, let’s celebrate the First Amendment with a government that’s doing everything in its power to destroy it.”
Stewart summarized the various reactions in the ballroom after the incident: Some grabbed bottles of wine on the way out, someone calmly continued to eat, while others hid under tables. “There are times when I worry a lot about artificial intelligence and whether it will eventually replace us,” said Stewart. “And then there are moments where I think, ‘Hey, AI, can you start Monday?'”
Stewart’s look at the reactions
The moderator also noted that many members of the Trump administration “showed their true colors” as they left the ballroom. He took aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had put on a “flaming blue steel” when he left, but focused primarily on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who apparently left his wife, Cheryl Hines, behind.
“RFK Jr. is being carried away by a Secret Service swarm that apparently couldn’t spare a single worker bee for, I don’t know, his wife,” Stewart said. “See that? A group of men are carrying another man out of the room. And then there’s a woman, obviously reaching out in desperation for someone to care, for someone to help. The woman raising her arms in fear and agony – that’s RFK Jr’s woman.”
He added, “By the way, if there’s one person in this entire room who seems immune to physical harm, it’s fucking RFK Jr. Look at that guy. He literally looks like someone stuck halfway between Bruce Banner and the Hulk.”
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
Later in the show, Stewart greeted Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, who had chaperoned the dinner for “The Daily Show.” Triumph appeared with a gold “Hero” medal. “I’m not one to throw the word hero around,” he told Stewart. “But after Saturday, I can’t help but not only throw it in the air, but also print it on a medal and have it made at Staples.”
“Were you afraid of being killed?” Stewart asked. “Yes,” Triumph replied. “But mostly because I didn’t want RFK Jr. eating my carcass. That’s not how you want to leave, Jon.”
