As Jon Stewart quits the Daily Show we look back on his best moments
- Text by Alex King
Sometimes politics is so ridiculous and depressing, you’ve got to laugh. Thankfully, for the last sixteen years we’ve had Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show to point out the absurdity of it all and bring some much needed sanity to hysterical debates on everything from Ebola to ISIS and the Ferguson protests.
Stewart is a man conservatives love to hate, but he’s skewered the hypocrisy of politicians and media on both the left and right and spoken truth to power – or truth to bullshit – to people across the political spectrum. He would be the first person to remind people he’s a comedian, not a journalist, but during his time at the helm of America’s best satirical show, he’s become one of the most trusted “news” anchors on television.
On Tuesday night, Stewart announced he’s finally stepping down from The Daily Show. “In my heart I know it is time for someone else to have [this] opportunity,” he said, visibly emotional. “This show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host, and neither do you. … I thank you for watching it, or hate-watching it – whatever reason you were tuning in for.”
We’ll miss you Jon. Before he finally hangs up his anchorman outfit, we looked back on Stewart’s best moments, including owning Fox News (multiple times), the Israel/Palestine debate, and we also found a hint about what he might be up to next.
On Ebola and media fear mongering
On the Ferguson protests
Compares Obama and Putin to characters from Mean Girls
Owning Fox anchor Bill O’Reilly on his own show
Speech at his own ‘Rally to Restore Sanity’
Owns CNN’s Crossfire, adversarial journalism and gets the show pulled from the air
Learns what happens when you criticise Israel
What comes next? Stewart’s directorial debut Rosewater
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