Jon Stewart reacts to the pets portion of presidential debate on “The Daily Show”: 'What the f--- just happened?'
He also said he has PTSD from the last debate.
Tuesday's presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris left The Daily Show host Jon Stewart with a question: "What the f--- just happened?"
In a live episode that aired following the event, Stewart was perplexed by the moment when Trump claimed that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets. (Watch it in the video below at 13:20.)
"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating — they're eating the pets of the people that live there," Trump said.
During the debate, moderator David Muir, anchor of ABC's World News Tonight, broke in to say that the city manager said there was no evidence of that. Trump pushed back, "But the people on television say their dog was eaten by the people that went there." David Muir: "Again, the Springfield city manager says there's no evidence of that."
In response, Stewart issued a PSA on The Daily Show: "A quick reminder to all the pet owners out there: Always remember to leash your dogs. It's an important way to keep your dog from fighting other dogs or being hit by a car or being eaten by your immigrant neighbors."
When they entered to face each other for the debate, Harris walked over to Trump and shook hands, unlike the former president and his last opponent, President Joe Biden.
Related: Jon Stewart lands a blow for cats in The Daily Show's DNC wrap-up
Stewart noted that the interaction was "an incredible display of the awkward tension that happens when your son is dating a biracial girl, and you meet her parents for the first time."
He also joked that America is getting back to traditional presidential debates, without the drama of the June 27 event between Trump and Biden, who was then running for a second term. After that debate, Biden was pressured to step aside and not run again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to say after surviving the PTSD of the last presidential debate," Stewart said, "how unbelievably refreshing it is to go back to the same old 'nobody's gonna answer any f---ing questions!'"
When you're lying to your mom but your brother already told her the truth. pic.twitter.com/cuSAmphaLF
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 11, 2024
Later, Stewart said he had heard the breaking news that Taylor Swift had endorsed Harris.
"So, you know what this means, Taylor Swift and I were watching the same program at the same time," Stewart said excitedly, as he fanned himself.
Finally, Stewart turned to the debate moment in which Muir asked Trump if he had any regrets about January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol and injured approximately 140 police officers. "No debate with the former president would be complete without addressing the former president's closing number of the Trump Show's first term," Stewart said.
"I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech," Trump said in response to Muir's question. "I showed up for a speech.... It would have never happened if Nancy Pelosi and the mayor of Washington did their jobs. I wasn't responsible for security. Nancy Pelosi was responsible. She didn't do her job."
Stewart's response was apoplectic.
"You f---ing tweeted, 'Join me on January 6th. It will be wild," Stewart pointed out. "But suddenly now, 'I was just a hired magician at a bar mitzvah. I didn't do anything. I showed up with a hat and a rabbit, and suddenly the whole party went out of control.'"
"In some ways, it doesn't matter what they say anymore," he continued. "But one thing will always be true, and it is the quality of the former president I respect the least: Whenever he is cornered and forced to face even the smallest of consequences for his own mendacity and scheming, he reverts to the greatest refuge of scoundrels — as Shaggy would say — 'It wasn't me.'... This man, who professes to be your champion, will always, when the boat is going down, be the first into the lifeboats, because in that moment, he will always say the same thing: 'I didn't know anything about it. I was just told to show up for a cruise,' even though everybody knows he was the f---ing captain of the ship."
Related: Sebastian Stan eerily embodies young Donald Trump in trailer for The Apprentice
The former full-time host of The Daily Show ended that stint in 2015, but he has returned to the anchor chair to host part-time through the presidential election on Nov. 5.
The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central and the next day on Paramount+.
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