Jon Stewart on the Perilous State of Late Night and Why America Fell for Donald Trump

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Oct 31, 2025

Jon Stewart, the witty comedian and former host of The Daily Show, dives headfirst into the evolving landscape of late-night comedy and its political implications. He discusses the chilling effects of corporate control, citing recent pressures that have rattled the industry. Stewart critiques both political parties for their failures and urges reflection on how credibility in media has dwindled. The conversation also touches on the rise of podcasts and the dangers of censorship, all while Stewart maintains a glimmer of hope for America's resilience.

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ANECDOTE

Staging A MAGA-Themed Satire

Jon Stewart recreated a MAGA-styled Daily Show to satirize recent threats to comedy and free speech.
He described the stunt as cathartic and energizing for his team while noting real victims face harsher repression.

INSIGHT

Credibility Was Lost, Not Just Taken

Stewart argues institutions lost credibility as much as it was taken from them, making them vulnerable to assault.
He warns that failing to honestly fix institutional problems invites erosion of public trust and influence.

INSIGHT

Digital Outrage Meets Analog Institutions

Stewart links Trump's rise to a gap between people's lived experience and the political system amplified by social media.
He explains social media's design magnifies outrage and distorts analog institutions like the Senate.

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Jon Stewart has been a leading figure in political comedy since before the turn of the millennium. But compared to his early years on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”—when Stewart was merciless in his attacks on George W. Bush’s Administration—these are much more challenging times for late-night comedians. Jimmy Kimmel nearly lost his job over a remark about MAGA supporters of Charlie Kirk, after the head of the F.C.C. threatened ABC. CBS recently announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s program. And Stewart now finds himself very near the hot seat: Comedy Central is controlled by David Ellison, the Trump-friendly C.E.O. of the recently merged Paramount Skydance. Stewart’s contract comes up in December. “You’re going to sign another one?” David Remnick asked him, in a live interview at The New Yorker Festival. “We’re working on staying,” Stewart said. “You don’t compromise on what you do. You do it till they tell you to leave. That’s all you can do.” Stewart, moreover, doesn’t blame solely Donald Trump for recent attacks on the independence of the media, universities, and other institutions. “This is the hardest truth for us to get at, is that [these] institutions . . . have problems. They do. And, if we don’t address those problems in a forthright way, then those institutions become vulnerable to this kind of assault. Credibility is not something that was just taken. It was also lost.” In fact, Stewart also directs his ire at “the Democratic Party, [which] thinks it’s O.K. for their Senate to be an assisted-living facility.” “In the general-populace mind, government no longer serves the interests of the people it purports to represent. That’s a broad-based, deep feeling. And that helps when someone comes along and goes, ‘The system is rigged,’ and people go, ‘Yeah, it is rigged.’ Now, he’s a good diagnostician. I don’t particularly care for his remedy.”

This episode was recorded live at The New Yorker Festival, on October 26, 2025.

New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.