It was the first day of Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, and while we don’t have much to say about the allegedly sleepy, flatulent-laden proceedings, Jon Stewart sure did. Appearing on tonight’s Daily Show, Stewart took out his red pen and gave the media a big, fat “F” for its first day of coverage. It turns out that simply saying you’ve learned many lessons over the last eight years doesn’t make it accurate.
Stewart set the segment up by reminding his viewers that this was a historic test of the legal system and the media, cutting to a package of MSNBC and CNN anchors elucidating on how much they learned from the 2016 and 2020 elections. But as we know, changed behavior is the best apology, and they’re not quite there yet. Both CNN and MSNBC spent inordinate amount of time watching the former president commute to the courthouse and asking a court sketch artist if Donald Trump has eyes. There’s a segment in which Jake Tapper interrupts a guest to present the first still picture of Trump in court. All of it is late-breaking and treated with the urgency of a terrorist attack, all so an anchor gets to say those magic words: “The walls are closing in on Donald Trump.”
This is, obviously, a very important trial, the first of several the former president faces ahead of the election. But as Stewart notes, nothing about Tapper presenting a sketch of Trump “glowering” in court is news. Nor is talking to a dismissed juror who may have caught a glimpse of Trump’s arm—regardless of whether he looks like Jon Stewart of not. We can also file the sheer number of descriptors used by reporters to describe Trump’s posture in the “not news” file. No, it doesn’t seem they’ve learned a lot, a fact tonight’s “Moment Of Zen” made abundantly clear.
While we’re always hoping that Stewart will get out his soapbox and give the media what for, returning correspondent Jessica Williams beat her former boss to the punch. Williams reminds Stewart that Trump farting himself awake at his hush money trial rocks and is funny. The relentlessly bleak news isn’t doing us any favors either. She maintains that it’s fun to have a break from reality and gander with abject horror at this sideshow again. We can’t argue with her there.