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Jon Stewart Returns To Skewer Trump Supporters And Right Wing Media On Late Show With Stephen Colbert [VIDEO]

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 21:50 PST, Jul 21, 2016

Jon Stewart is back! The former Daily Show host made a brilliant return to late-night as he joined his friend and colleague Stephen Colbert on The Late Show.

Stewart took the opportunity to address the coverage of Republican National Convention in a live segment that reminded viewers of his days doing The Daily Show.

As Variety notes, during his monologue, Jon took aim at Sean Hannity and his flip-flopping critique of Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Stewart pointed out that Hannity is accepting and excusing qualities in Donald Trump that right-wing media eviscerated Barack Obama for.

“I’m sure it’s easy for people without ethics or principles to embrace someone who embodies everything they said they hated about the previous president for the past eight years,” said Stewart of Hannity, whom he nicknamed “Lumpy” during the segment.

Jon also took on Trump supporters who say they want to take their country back. Stewart’s counter-argument: the country was never yours to begin with.

“This country isn’t yours. You don’t own it!” he said. “You don’t own patriotism, you don’t own Christianity.”

Stewart also criticized Trump supporters and Republican delegates for their hypocrisy on support for troops, police and first responders. He said that he saw people at the RNC 2016 who spouted “Blue Lives Matter” rhethoric but refused to support the extension of the Zadroga Act, aka The 9/11 First-Responders Bill, a cause that Stewart is very passionate about.

“You sure as hell don’t own respect for the bravery of military police and firemen. Trust me!” an obviously heated Jon Stewart said. “I saw a lot of people on the convention floor in Cleveland with their Blue Lives Matter rhetoric who either remained silent or actively fought against the 9/11 First Responders bill re-authorisation. I see you and I see your bullsh*t. I see it!”

As this article in The Huffington Post notes, the Zadroga Act was passed after 9/11 to ensured that the first responders who worked during the crisis, and suffered from life threatening illnessses because of that service, received health care benefits. Before 2015, it looked like the Act would not be renewed, even though affected policemen, firemen, and paramedics, many suffering from debilitating cancers, went to Washington to show lawmakers how much they needed healthcare. But Jon Stewart, disgusted by the callousness of Washington, lent his star power and pretty much shamed the Act into being renewed, granting lifelong health care for the 9/11 first responders and adding five years to the victims compensation program.

After Jon swore on air, Stephen Colbert popped up from under the table to let him know that they were live on air. But Stewart handled it with his usual aplomb.

“We’re live. Never been on a television show with stakes before.” he quipped.

But he wasn’t finished roasting Trump supporters.

“Those fighting to be included in the ideal of equality are not being divisive; those fighting to keep those people out are,” Stewart added.

Jon Stewart’s appearance on Late Night with Stephen Colbert Thursday night was applauded on social media and his name became a trending topic on Twitter.

Stewart left The Daily Show and retired from late-night in 2015 and named South African comedian, Trevor Noah, as his successor. But as this brief stint on The Late Show proved, nobody makes fun of the news quite like Jon Stewart.

[Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP Images File]

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