Jon Stewart Wonders 'Is America Aligning With The Axis Powers?'

Alex Christy
June 5th, 2026 9:31 AM

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While hosting Comedy Central’s The Weekly Show podcast on Wednesday, Jon Stewart unleashed some foreign policy analysis so ridiculous that it makes one wonder what planet he has been living on for the past 12 years. While interviewing New York Times columnist David Wallace-Wells, Stewart wondered if America is now “aligning with the Axis” powers, while Wallace-Wells channeled Mitchell and Webb and wondered, “Are we the baddies?”

Stewart tried to tie the war with Iran to Russia’s war with Ukraine, “It felt like the world has always had problems, but there was a relative amount of stability. It seems very clear that in the last few years, and maybe we'll start it with Russia's invasion of Ukraine or maybe even their occupation of Crimea, that the world order was about to go through a bit of a reset. That we were going to be re-choosing who are the Allied powers and who are the Axis powers and is America aligning with the Axis powers? Are we, is that what this Iran war represents?”

 

 

In a properly-functioning world, an analysis that out of touch with reality would not merit a response, but alas we live in a world where people view Jon Stewart as an authority on things, so a response is necessary. During the war, Russia has provided assistance to Iran while Iran had already been helping Russia against Ukraine for years. Meanwhile, Ukraine has helped Gulf states shoot down Iranian drones.

It is utterly ridiculous to suggest that the U.S. is now aligning with “the Axis Powers.” Nevertheless, Wallace-Wells appeared to agree, “I mean, you know, that famous skit from some British comedy show where it's like, two Nazi soldiers looking at each other and going, ‘Are we the baddies?’"

Wallace-Wells then got only slightly more serious, “I do think—you know, I don’t want to underestimate the villainy of Iran. That regime has been brutal for many decades. I mean, it’s certainly not a place I would want to live. I think very few Americans would want to live there, but that’s not the same thing as saying that bad behavior justifies military—regular military action against, essentially, non-existent nuclear threats in my view, and especially so poorly thought through that now the result of this conflict has been, I think, a pretty clear humiliation for the American military and a pretty clear elevation in status for Iran.”

The American military accomplished everything it was asked to do by its political bosses. America’s enemies listen to Wallace-Wells at their own peril.

Here is a transcript for the June 3 show:

Comedy Central The Weekly Show

6/3/2026

JON STEWART: Let me—let's tease that apart a little bit because that's interesting to me. It felt like the world has always had problems, but there was a relative amount of stability. It seems very clear that in the last few years, and maybe we'll start it with Russia's invasion of Ukraine—

DAVID WALLACE-WELLS: Yeah.

STEWART: — or maybe even their occupation of Crimea, that the world order was about to go through a bit of a reset. That we were going to be re-choosing who are the Allied powers and who are the Axis powers and is America aligning with the Axis powers? Are we, is that what this Iran war represents?

WALLACE-WELLS: I mean, you know, that famous skit from some British comedy show where it's like, two Nazi soldiers looking at each other and going, "Are we the baddies?"

I do think—you know, I don’t want to underestimate the villainy of Iran. That regime has been brutal for many decades. I mean, it’s certainly not a place I would want to live. I think very few Americans would want to live there, but that’s not the same thing as saying that bad behavior justifies military—regular military action against, essentially, non-existent nuclear threats in my view, and especially so poorly thought through that now the result of this conflict has been, I think, a pretty clear humiliation for the American military and a pretty clear elevation in status for Iran.

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