Jon Stewart revealed on his podcast earlier this week that some politicians he had on “The Daily Show” were only honest in the green room — and that their representatives seemed mystified when the concept of authenticity was discussed.
Stewart was interviewing “Pod Save America” co-hosts Jon Lovett and Jon Favreau on his “Weekly Show” podcast when the latter called for politicians to ignore their representatives when attempting to speak their minds, prompting swift recognition from Stewart.
“We would invite all the press people from senators’ offices and congressional people’s offices to come to the show in the afternoon,” Stewart said Thursday. “And we would do, like, a panel with them. I would talk to them and they would ask questions.”
“They inevitably [went], ‘So, you know, my boss, I’d love to have him have a successful appearance on “The Daily Show,” I think that would be really helpful for my boss. What’s your advice on what would make a successful appearance?’” he added.
Stewart continued, “And I’d go, ‘Oh, well, you know, your boss could come on the show and tell me what they think, and then what I’ll do is, like, I’ll say what I think about what they said, and then we’ll talk about it.’ And they’d be like, ‘So the strategy is authenticity?’”
“‘I’m not telling you a strategy!’” he recalled. “‘I’m saying just fucking talk like a person!’”
Earlier, Stewart mentioned President Donald Trump and his open willingness to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar, half-joking that politicians who justify such things on his show are regularly outraged in the green room about having to go on television to defend them.
“I’ve always said the most truth you will hear on CNN and MSNBC and Fox is in the green room,” Stewart said. “The green room is where the truth is. The green room is where political leaders and anchors say the real shit.”
Stewart excoriated fellow pundit Jake Tapper earlier this week for publishing a book about former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, and argued that a journalist should tell their viewers what is occurring as they learn it — instead of when it’s profitable.
As for honesty within his own circles, Stewart suggested Thursday that there’s plenty of room.
Stewart, a self-described Democrat who has been an outspoken political pundit for close to three decades, went on to argue that there should be “excitement, not trepidation” within the party around how Democrats recover from the loss of the 2024 presidential election.
