Jon Stewart calls Harris' campaign a 'Cheney family reunion' as he debunks 'woke theory' behind her loss
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jon Stewart dismantled the narrative that Kamala Harris' loss to Donald Trump was due to "woke culture" in his first post-election monologue on 'The Daily Show'.
He also mocked the vice president's campaign, comparing it to a "Cheney family reunion," referencing its ties to Republican powerhouses Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney.
Jon Stewart shares his problem with the 'woke theory'
In his monologue, Jon Stewart took aim at cable news pundits who blamed Democrats' "wokeness" for the defeat, asserting that the Democratic campaign was anything but "woke."
"I only have one problem with the woke theory… I just didn’t recall seeing any Democrats running on woke s**t," said the comedian.
He ridiculed the suggestion that the Democrats' message was too progressive, pointing out that many Democratic candidates, from Sherrod Brown to Jon Tester, were running on tough-on-crime and anti-defunding-the-police platforms.
"Those are the Democrats!" shouted Stewart and slammed his desk in frustration, before adding, "They didn't talk about pronouns, they didn’t say Latinx, it was the opposite."
Jon Stewart mocks Kamala Harris for adopting conservative rhetoric
Jon Stewart also turned his attention to Kamala Harris herself, criticizing her campaign for shifting to more conservative messaging.
He joked that she embraced the same tough-on-crime rhetoric as Republicans, even referencing her statement about owning a Glock and being ready to defend herself.
"They acted like Republicans for the last four months. They wore camo hats and went to Cheney family reunions. Do you know how dangerous it is to wear a hunting hat around Cheneys?" quipped Stewart.
Stewart argued that the real reason for Harris' defeat was more straightforward than what the pundits were saying.
He said, "What happened was, the country felt like the government wasn’t working for them, and the Democrats, in particular, were taking their hard-earned money and giving it to people who didn’t deserve it as much as them. And so the Democrats got shellacked."
Jon Stewart encourages Democrats to learn from past defeats and make a comeback
In a more hopeful tone, Jon Stewart reminded the audience that the Democratic Party had faced devastating defeats before, most notably in 1984 when Ronald Reagan dominated the election, carrying every state except Minnesota.
"Everyone thought, that’s the end of the Democrats. But eight years later there was a Democrat back in office. We don’t know what’s going to happen in four years at all," pointed out Stewart, referencing Bill Clinton's 1993 win.
"The Democrats have been here before, and they’ve come back. They need to look in the mirror, figure out what went wrong, and move forward," said the comedian.
Stewart’s monologue was a sharp contrast to many other late-night hosts, who struggled with the election results and offered pep talks to their disappointed liberal audiences.
While Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers gave their usual political rundowns, and Jimmy Kimmel focused on humor, Bill Maher used his platform to criticize the Democratic Party.
Maher called out the party's elitism and its reliance on identity politics, urging Democrats to take responsibility for their loss. He remarked, "You’re brats, and you’re snobs, and people don’t like that."
