Jon Stewart: Fox News Would Mock Obama If He Cured Cancer

Photo of Tim Graham.
  • Bookmark and Share

Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz reported Tuesday that Comedy Central's Jon Stewart told reporters at a University of Denver breakfast that Fox's fair-and-balanced slogan is an insult "to people with brains" and that only "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace "saves that network from slapping on a bumper sticker...Barack Obama could cure cancer and they'd figure out a way to frame it as an economic disaster."

[F-BOMB UPDATE: On Tuesday afternoon, Kurtz relayed that "I reported that he called the fair-and-balanced claim an insult to people with brains. What he actually said was that it was 'a [blank] you to people with brains.'"]

The rapid-response team at Fox quickly replied to Kurtz: "Jon's clearly out of touch," citing a Pew Research Center study showing the network has the most balanced audience in cable news, 39 percent Republicans and 33 percent Democrats. "But being out of touch with mainstream America is nothing new to Jon, as evidenced by the crash-and-burn ratings of this year's Oscars telecast."

Stewart also proclaimed "I'm stunned to see Karl Rove on a news network as an analyst," Stewart, who’s admitted voting for John Kerry in 2004 (and who could forget his unfunny God-I-admire-you interview with Kerry that year?), said he didn't see CNN's James Carville, the former Bill Clinton aide, in the same category because "I don't think he's being passed off as a sage."

What Stewart means here is like any other Bush-loathing liberal, he’s stunned that Rove isn’t in jail due to their heavy-breathing ardor for "justice" in the Joe Wilson-Valerie Plame book-and-a-movie-deal drama.

Update 13:59 | Matthew Sheffield. It's also odd that Stewart seems so upset about Rove considering the much higher number of Democrats who have transitioned to TV news such as Chris Matthews, George Stephanopolous and the late Tim Russert.

—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.

Read commentsFree email alertsTake action

Comments Policy

All comments are owned by whoever posted them and are subject to our terms of use. They should not be assumed to represent the views of NewsBusters.

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

I agree with his assessment

I agree with his assessment IRT Sean Hannity, who was just pegging the hypocrisy meter yesterday, but Brit Hume and Mort Kondracke had nothing but praise for Michelle Obama last night.

Oh yeah -- and Jon Stewart

Oh yeah -- and Jon Stewart WOULDN'T mock Obama if he claimed he could walk on water, and lower the sea levels.

Hang on a sec -- didn't he actually claim he would do the latter?

Is there anything more pathetic and redundant than an alleged "comedian" who won't make fun of certain "selected" politicians.

He tried it once, and it didn't go down well.

But this made me laugh...

"But being out of touch with mainstream America is nothing new to Jon, as evidenced by the crash-and-burn ratings of this year's Oscars telecast."

Ouch!!

Vote 4 change. Vote 4 anything. See Jack & Mr Shy's first campaign ad for the ONLY viable 3rd party candidate.

Yeah, Jack, that gave me a

Yeah, Jack, that gave me a chuckle too.

If a Republican had made the claim that this was the moment when the rise of the seas began to slow and the planet began to heal (maybe not exact) Stewart would have made hay on that for a week!

Stewart once told his audience "It's OK to laugh at him, you know!" but apparently he doesn't really believe it himself.

And wait a minute! Karl Rove doesn't know enough about elections to be an analyst?????

Good grief!

Jack & MB

Here, if you want even MORE steam coming out of your ears over this little liberal "comedian" weenie, did you see this?:

Jon Stewart lectures reporters on coverage

Aaaah, our smug, righteous, above-the-fray Jon is lecturing people again. Check out the litany of Jon-is-God comments, too... It's amazing how they all see him as a true bipartisan. Of course, he believes it himself... just another delusional liberal. 

 

* * * SOCKS THE CAT '08 * * *
For REAL Change

Thanks, Shy...because of

Thanks, Shy...because of the "steam" warning, I wrapped my head with duct tape before going there.

This is what we have come to....a comedian lecturing "journalists" and making sense! LOL

But I did love this:

The choice of Joe Biden as Obama's runningmate, Stewart said, was
refreshing because of the Delaware senator's large personality and
endless possibility for jokes. "Biden is really nice. His style is so
effusive and unguarded," Stewart said. "He's emotion plus."

And now "mo commenza"....now it begins, (that's a phonetic spelling, in Italian)...the redefining of Biden's verbal gaffes and blunders as "refreshing" and a part of his "large personality" that makes him so loveable!

<gag>

You've missed the point

I believe Jon would mock Obama if he claimed he could walk on water. However, Jon's statement above is referring to if Barack ACTUALLY cured cancer, then he believes Fox would be biased enough to criticize Obama anyway. Your comparison to how he would treat Obama's CLAIMS is misleading.

Second, he's made fun of Obama several times now, with several points similar to one's highlighted here (the faux seal being the one that pops in my mind most clearly). In my opinion, his crowd has actually started to warm up to it a bit.

Third, I'm not so sure sucking at hosting the Oscar's means you're out of touch with America. That logic would put a lot of mainstream Americans out of touch with themselves. Besides (regardles of what you think it means), young people still go to his show for news more than other real news outlets. Or does that not count as being "in touch?"

Zabriskie Pointless

No -- you not only missed the "Point," you've continued flying into the mid-Pacific in some sort of Amelia Erhardt gesture.

Barack Obama DID say if elected the earth would be healed and the sea level drop.

But yada yada yada -- Stewart is an unfunny blow-soft. And you sound pretty humorless too. 

Right, Jon...

And George Stephanopolis was a well known journalist before becoming Clinton's press Secretary, right? That;s why ABC hired him.

In Jon's world the sky is always a shade of pink, but there are always storm clouds off to the right.

 

The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.

If Obama could cure cancer

If Obama could cure cancer he most likely wouldn't be the Democrat nominee.

Maybe not foolican

But he'd definitely be in a slapfest with Reverend Ike.

I ♣ my seal

No kidding...there would go

No kidding...there would go universal health care.

www.theholyrosary.org

"There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we can not resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary." -Sister Lucia

Obama? Cure cancer?

You mean - he didn't?

I think we're all bozos on this bus!" - Firesign Theatre

Well, Obama has supposedly

Well, Obama has supposedly cured the cancer that is racism and bigotry within his own party. The side effect is that now the feminists are mad. But remember, medicine is an art, not an exact science!

Jon Jumps the Shark

Didn't the Clinton campaign claim that Fox was the most fair and balanced of all networks? 

Jon, playing on tired old stereotypes makes you look silly, not funny. Perhaps it's time for a conservatives are nazis joke or one where we want to children to starve.

Welcome to the Club,

Arthur Fonzarelli

The problem with most of the

The problem with most of the media, Jon, is that they treat Obama as if he already has cured cancer, and anyone who acknowledges that he really hasn't accomplished much of anything in his political career is branded a "racist".

It's not like Jon has ever made fun of...

Heeey! BTW I don't suppose he gave any examples of actually lampooning Obama. Pointing out actual documented gaffes, faux pas and idiotic statements isn't exactly mocking, now is it MR. FUNNYMAN?

 

Like I say ,they want to be the funny man who is taken seriously until they step in it then fall back on."Hey it's just comedy maaaan, lighten up!"

Who is this Rove guy liberals freak out about?

  I did not know for 7 years. Then he went on Fox with his charts.

  This guy is gooooooood! No wonder liberals hate him.

   Karl Rove could invent a way to poop oil and Jonnyboy would still hate him.

Mockery

May I point out that this is a guy who makes his living by mockery. He's a professional mocker. ("What do you want to be when you grow up, son?" "A smartass mocker, mommy!" "I am so proud of you ...")

Every day, someone releases a new report on how the networks overwhelmingly favor Barack Obama, by 3, maybe 4 to 1 on stories, and 100 to 1 on contributions. And yet, the people Stewart is really talking about are O'Reilly and Hannitty. You could include Laura Ingraham, but she's got her own gig away from Fox, and she's not really identified with the network. What's really happening is that Stewart and his gang resent Fox for not being swept up in the Power of The One. Fox does not believe!

And as for Rove, this is a perversion of perception. Have you ever listened to Rove? He's a fundamentals guy. He doesn't try to do anything complicated. His advice is remarkably simple. Be yourself. Present your story. Draw contrasts where you can. Respect your base and keep it simple. Elections are about the future. Don't take this the wrong way, Karl Rove, if you're listening, but you haven't said anything all that complicated. I mean, we're not talking Medici intrigues with this guy.

But the liberals played him up to be some kind of secret genius. Why? Because they think they're holy and brilliant, and so when he kept beating them, their only explanation was that he must be brilliant also, but evil.

They can't believe anyone would not accept their superiority. It's so obvious. Rove must be tricking the people1 

KC, libs hate Rove because

KC, libs hate Rove because he engineered victories for the evil GWB over their annointed candidates.  To the left, they are supposed to win elections; the modern libs never acknolwedge losing anything.  So, if Rove engineers a defeat for them, he has obviously done so in some vicious underhanded way; he helped Bush "steal" the election! 

You also hint at something that drives me up a wall.  We have 90% of the media in the tank for Democrats, and FOX News, which leans right but is still THE closest thing we've got to fair broadcasting of any major network (cable or broadcast).  Yet, it is FOX News that is branded as the example of unfair news coverage.  Even those who do not follow news or politics have it ingrained in them that FOX is THE biased network.  This fact demonstrates how much power the bulk of the mainstream media continues to hold over public perceptions.  The media has been successful at stigmatizing FOX while networks like MSNBC and CNN get off without a hitch.

one detail

You guys are forgetting that most of the people who watch The Daily Show are either casual voters or committed lefties. When you bring up names like George Stephanopolous or Chris Matthews, most people don't even realize that these guys worked in politics.

So all Jon has to do is bring up names, fudge the story, and then quickly move on, and voila his audience is convinced that only Fox News hires partisan commentators.

But as an aside, Fox's joke about the Oscars was hilarious.

Big Difference

Fox has more Liberal "commentators" on its network then the rest of the MSM has Conservative commentators, combined.

Difference between Liberal commentators and Conservative commentators is that Conservative commentators admit it and Liberals are cowards and have to hide it.  

 

Umm, aren't the libs always

Umm, aren't the libs always claiming that miracle cure for every disease is embryonic stem cells as though it already happened or will so tomorrow? Never mind that not even one medical therapy has come out of Planned Parenthood's biological waste stream.  So an Obama sticker asserting he cured cancer is really not that far fetched when he would be offering life to some by cleaning up the dead bodies of others.  <darkly sarcastic>

 Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.  

"Jon Stewart told reporters

"Jon Stewart told reporters at a University of Denver breakfast that Fox's fair-and-balanced slogan is an insult 'to people with brains.'"

Whose audience has the bigger collection of dupes, kooks, freaks, fools and idiots: Stewart's, Stephen Colbert's or Bill Maher's?

Stewart

Stewart et.al. have found fame and fortune playing to the lowest common denominator. The MSM has lost all credibility among mature, logical people. There no longer exists a line between news and entertainment.  It is quite unfortunate that so many Americans, particularly the young, have never been taught to discern the difference.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

You mean the difference

You mean the difference like the National Enquirer? 

 Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.   check the link folks, you'll ROFL

How would Stuart know what Fox would do

Wouldn't Obama have to have some major accomplishment to point to that they have mocked?

Even Obama supporters can't name any major accomplishments and they are so desperate now that they say things like Stuart says here. I'll elaborate for them

Liberal Obamamessiah worshiper:

"Obama has no accomplishments BUT IF HE DID, they would mock them, I just know it. There is no point to having any accomplishments, in fact it's better not to, so they can't be mocked. Excuse me I'd like to sing a song now - O BAM A, O BAM A. You can tell by the song that this is a great man who will do great things. That and the fact that he's cute. It's so obvious."

Regular person, after realizing that no common sense could possibly get through

"okay, gotcha"

 Let's hold on here a

 Let's hold on here a moment.  Jon Stewart is credentialed how? He is about as lightweight as any thing could be.  He is on a comedy network, he is a comedian.  That the MSM even pays any attention to him shows us what kind of idiots we are dealing with.

He needs to be laughed at while he sees us shrugging our shoulders as we walk away. Mr. Stewart is never to be taken seriously.  

Consider The Source

Jon Stewart is part of the Hollywood left, those sheltered, naive and sycophantic imitators of the the '60s hippies. Having a big chip on your shoulder and a loud, wise assed mouth, doesn't mean you know something.

No we wouldn't Jon

But we would mock him if he claimed he would cure cancer if he is elected (the same way we mocked Edwards in 2004 when he claimed that Christopher Reeve would get up and walk if he and Kerry were elected back then)

Libs man, when they are making empty promises, they sure do go all out.

But seriously, during his speech on Thursday, what ailments or miracles will the chosen one claim to perform should he be elected in November?  I think we need a pool on this.

I watched the Daily Show

I watched the Daily Show yesterday.  Jon's analysis was to equate the U.S. removal of a dictator in Iraq with what the Russians are trying to do to a democratically elected country.  Jon's analysis makes perfect sense if he sees no difference, preference, or benefit of a democracy over a dictatorship.

Jon thinks he's smart, but like many liberals his logic frequently comes up short.

Stewart wasn't writing a

Stewart wasn't writing a white paper on the subject. The point was to juxtapose Bush's comments about Georgia against our own action in Iraq in a sardonic way.

except the sardonic focus should be

on how libs see a democratically elected ally as equal to a brutal dictator (who commits mass murder, tortures his people, publicly cheers Sept 11, and threatens the U.S. and our allies)as equivalents.

I don't know if he has been re-running the same show for a while or is focused on this ad nauseam. I watched Stuart for the first time a few days ago and it sound like it was the same topic. It's pathetic that people see humor

The two are hardly related.

The two are hardly related. That's like comparing Germany's invasion of Poland to the liberation of Paris.

Like I said, he wasn't

Like I said, he wasn't presenting a scientific theorem. It was a bit on a comedy show. Of course the comparison isn't perfect.

Sadly I know a lot of folks

Sadly I know a lot of folks at my school who consider Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart to be sources more reliable than Fox News.

And whose fault is that?

And whose fault is that? Not Stewart or Colbert's.