Jon Stewart is warning Democrats and other critics of Donald Trump against overusing their claims of authoritarianism after the president’s first week in office, which included a slew of executive orders undoing former President Joe Biden’s work and even contesting the 14th Amendment.
During Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Stewart returned to his weekly post to decipher the barrage of executive orders and firings that have jumpstarted the Trump administration. In response to liberal pundits insisting that the firings were a “purge,” Stewart pulled out a foam axe from under his desk to reference the dystopian slasher franchise.
“The purge!” Stewart screamed, “Ah! Trump has ushered in the purge . . . Although, just in case I’m misinterpreting, what is this purge about, exactly?”
Various news clips of liberal pundits clarified that Trump had fired 17 inspector generals, whose roles are to act as governmental agency watchdogs. A CNN anchor shared that the president can remove inspector generals; however, Stewart pointed out that the only thing Trump technically failed to do was provide 30 days’ notice and a detailed list of his reasons for firing the officials.
“That is what we are upset about?” Stewart said. “But this is the cycle we find ourselves in. First law of Trump-o-dynamics: Every action is met with a very not-equal overreaction, thus throwing off our ability to know when s**t is actually getting real—like last week’s pardons.”
Moreover, liberal mainstream media personalities took to television to express their outrage over the pardons and executive orders, which they called “egregious,” “un-American,” and “an authoritarian takeover.”
While Stewart acknowledged the damage Trump’s pardons and orders will do, he said, “That is his constitutional power.”
“For some reason, we have given presidents the power of a king, and then we say, ‘Well, you’re not going to get all kingly and s**t on us, right?’ To put that in constitutional terms, if I could—don’t hate the player, hate the Founding Fathers,” Stewart said. “Because I don’t know if you’ve met Donald Trump—he pushes s**t.”
“The Daily Show” also highlighted Trump’s executive order to dismantle birthright citizenship, which is the basis of the 14th Amendment and essentially grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized” in the U.S. However, Trump’s order, titled Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship, attempts to deny citizenship to children born to undocumented parents or lawful permanent and temporary residents at the time of birth.
Stewart agreed that the executive action on birthright citizenship was Trump’s attempt at authoritarianism because the U.S. Constitution is clear in its acceptance of all persons, regardless of race and gender. He also noted that Trump’s actions were blocked by a federal judge last week. Currently, the birthright order has been halted by a temporary restraining order for at least 14 days. Vox reported it is likely the judge will follow up with a more lasting order.
“Look, we are facing a deluge of these executive actions, and certainly we must prepare for those most vulnerable to the consequences of these actions. But the ‘this is all fascist’ argument has become almost a reflex for the left,” he continued.
“I have a lot of fear that as this term goes on, things are going to get a little fascisty. And we must be vigilant. But part of vigilance is discernment,” Stewart explained.
“The question is probably not, ‘How dare he?’ The question should be, ‘What are you learning from this? How would you use this power? What is your contract with America?’ Democrats, exist outside of him,” Stewart said. “Tell people what you would do with the power that Trump is wielding, and then convince us to give that power to you as soon as possible!”
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