Jon Stewart famously took down Tucker Carlson in 2024, and the late-night comedian hasn’t lost his touch. During his second night back as (part-time) host of The Daily Show, Stewart went to town on Tucker Carlson‘s lapdog interview with Vladimir Putin.
While acknowledging his controversial return where he was roundly criticized for equating Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Stewart promised he’ll do better.
“I can haz learning. I can haz it. But I don’t even know where to start with that,” Stewart mused. “Where do I go to study the particulars of unquestioning propaganda? I would need mentorship.”
And with that, Stewart turned to “Professor” Carlson’s trip to Russia that ended in humiliating fashion as even Putin mocked the former Fox News host for not being more “aggressive” with his questions.
Via Rolling Stone:
Stewart broke down Carlson’s reporting, taking notes on important components of journalism like “disguise your deception and capitulation to power as noble and moral and based in freedom.”
“Now, obviously Tucker’s strategy is going to work when there’s some ambiguity in what Putin says,” Stewart noted. “But what if Putin starts saying shit like ‘World War II was Poland’s fault because they forced Hitler to invade them’?” He cut to footage of Carlson replying “Of course” to Putin’s assertion.
“You know, that’s so hard to do when your face says, ‘What the f*ck?’ and your mouth says ‘Of course,’” Stewart said. “How do you do that?”
Stewart then turned his attention to Carlson’s now-viral trip to a Russian grocery store and subways where he marveled over the cleanliness and prices. At that point, Stewart could no longer hide his disdain.
“I know I’ve said this before: you’re such a dick. Really, truly, a dick,” Stewart said. “Because the difference between our urinal-caked, chaotic subways and your candelabra-ed, beautiful subways is the literal price of freedom.”
It was another fiery installment for Stewart’s return to The Daily Show, which has delivered huge ratings for Comedy Central. His first episode back averaged three million viewers, and it continued to have a “halo effect” on the rest of the week. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the following episodes put up higher than usual numbers thanks to Stewart’s return jump-starting the week.