Jon Stewart and John Oliver’s claim that America has entered its “monarchy era” under President Donald Trump may not have been the craziest moment from Monday’s edition of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. Instead it might have been New Yorker editor David Remnick’s claim that the country is at risk of turning into Vladimir Putin’s Russia because of the relationship between Trump and his billionaire supporters.
Remnick began by declaring, “This is what is new between the first Trump term and the second term. I lived for four years in the Soviet Union, in the last years of the Soviet Union, and then kept coming back. Now I can't go anymore for obvious reasons.”
After some banter about why he wasn’t allowed back in Russia, Remnick got back to his point:
I was a reporter for the Washington Post, and, you know, I was coming to a place that for 70-odd years had lived lives, not only of censorship but of self-censorship and a kind of relationship to the government where you were not a citizen. You were a subject. And I had the thrilling experience as a witness to see this seemingly come to an end, to liberalize, to have the promise of democracy—to see miraculously Mikhail Gorbachev had come along—and open the door, history can move in that direction, and God willing it will again.
Channeling Martin Luther King Jr., Stewart added, “I have heard that the arc of it is long and bends towards justice.”
Remnick lamented, “It is long but aggravating, but now it went the other direction and the oligarchs took over this country in concert with Vladimir Putin and before him, Yeltsin. And to see at an inauguration, a few weeks ago, of the tech titans of this world sitting in the best seats in the house, right behind the president of the United States was the most ominous thing.”
He continued, “It was even more ominous than the speech itself because those guys are seemingly willing to say and do anything to protect their gigantic business interests, and that is a further recipe for disaster. We've seen it before in this country, but we have never seen it energized by and supercharged by social media and the tools that they have at hand.”
Remnick didn’t say that when the tech companies were closely aligned with Democrats, but there was more to his kooky interview. Earlier, Stewart asked, “Is there a break glass moment for you in this? You know, we talked about it earlier with the audience, about not overreacting to each individual outrage and moment, and is that frustrating? Do we keep ourselves on DEFCON, and I don't know which one is the worst—”
There are five DEFCON levels, and the closer to DEFCON 1 you get, the bigger the crisis. Remnick, however, did his best Michael Scott impression as he replied, “Nine, ten. I notice sometimes when I go out to dinner with this person or that person and meet friends, every once in a while, in fact, quite a lot, somebody will say to me, ‘You know what, I have signed off on the news. I'm not watching it. I can't take it. I have to, you know, protect myself. It’s too much.’”
After Stewart claimed he understood such a sentiment, Remnick followed up, “I understand it, but while you are doing that, Trump keeps going. Politics keeps going, the world keeps happening, and you may choose to protect yourself, but then you are part of the problem, I'm afraid.”
Later, Stewart also mourned how, “there really is a rudderlessness amongst the opposition party.”
Remnick claimed to understand why Democrats are despondent, but demanded they snap out of it, “There's a kind of sense of injury, embarrassment, and withdrawal. But enough already. Enough already.”
Stewart hyped, “Sack up already. Do you hear that? I'm going to say this right now. The editor of one of the most esteemed magazines in American history just told the Democrats, “Sack up!’”
The irony of demanding the opposition party buck itself up while comparing the party in power to one that kills its opponents was lost on all involved.
Here is a transcript for the February 10 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
2/10/2025
11:16 PM ET
JON STEWART: Is there a break glass moment for you in this? You know, we talked about it earlier with the audience, about not overreacting to each individual outrage and moment, and is that frustrating? Do we keep ourselves on DEFCON, and I don't know which one is the worst—
DAVID REMNICK: Nine, ten. I notice sometimes when I go out to dinner with this person or that person and meet friends, every once in a while, in fact, quite a lot, somebody will say to me, “You know what, I have signed off on the news. I'm not watching it. I can't take it. I have to, you know, protect myself. It’s too much."
STEWART: Right, I understand that instinct.
REMNICK: I understand it, but while you are doing that, Trump keeps going. Politics keeps going, the world keeps happening, and you may choose to protect yourself, but then you are part of the problem, I'm afraid.
…
STEWART: It’s incredible to me how there really is a rudderlessness amongst the opposition party.
REMNICK: Yeah, well, the opposition party is the Democratic Party that’s licking its wounds, its beating itself up for what happened, and rightly so—
STEWART: Right.
REMNICK: -- in terms of the Biden decision to run a second time, or the decision to, kind of, have a willing suspension of disbelief on where Biden was in terms of popularity or his age. There's a kind of sense of injury, embarrassment, and withdrawal. But enough already. Enough already.
STEWART: Sack up already. Do you hear that? I'm going to say this right now. The editor of one of the most esteemed magazines in American history just told the Democrats, "Sack up!" Shocking. You heard it here first.
…
REMNICK: This is what is new between the first Trump term and the second term. I lived for four years in the Soviet Union, in the last years of the Soviet Union, and then kept coming back. Now I can't go anymore for obvious reasons.
STEWART: What did you do in the Soviet Union? “Can't go anywhere for obvious reasons.” Did you kill a dude in the Soviet Union?
REMNICK: Just a few, but you don’t need to know about that.
STEWART: What?
REMNICK: I was a reporter.
STEWART: Oh, you are a reporter for four years, all right, all right.
REMNICK: I was a reporter for the Washington Post, and, you know, I was coming to a place that for 70-odd years had lived lives, not only of censorship but of self-censorship and a kind of relationship to the government where you were not a citizen. You were a subject. And I had the thrilling experience as a witness to see this seemingly come to an end, to liberalize, to have the promise of democracy—to see miraculously Mikhail Gorbachev had come along—and open the door, history can move in that direction, and God willing it will again.
STEWART: I have heard that the arc of it is long and bends towards justice.
REMNICK: It is long but aggravating.
STEWART: Yes.
REMNICK: But now it went the other direction and the oligarchs took over this country in concert with Vladimir Putin and before him, Yeltsin. And to see at an inauguration, a few weeks ago, of the tech titans of this world sitting in the best seats in the house, right behind the president of the United States was the most ominous thing.
It was even more ominous than the speech itself.
STEWART: Right.
REMNICK: Because those guys are seemingly willing to say and do anything to protect their gigantic business interests, and that is a further recipe for disaster. We've seen it before in this country, but we have never seen it energized by and supercharged by social media and the tools that they have at hand.
