While promoting her new book, And the Good News Is … , Dana Perino was a guest on Wednesday evening's edition of The Daily Show, when liberal host Jon Stewart called Eric Bolling -- one of her co-hosts on The Five -- “the dumb guy” on the Fox News Channel's popular program.
After welcoming his guest to "The Two" -- which he stated was a play on The Five -- Stewart admitted that he and his staff are “obsessed” with the afternoon news show “a little bit” and “in a good way.”
The Comedy Central host then discussed the appearance of Perino and her dog Jasper on the cover of Life and Dog magazine.
The Five co-host explained that a famous person had once complained about people always taking pictures of her dog. Instead, Perino said, she wants “everyone to enjoy my dog. He could be 'America's Dog.'”
“Doesn't the other guy on The Five have a dog named … , who's the dumb guy?” Stewart asked.
“Could you be more specific?” Perino responded to loud laughter from the audience.
“He's my co-host. He sits to my right. His name is Eric Bolling, and he has a dog named Freedom … after the Freedom Towers.” she stated, gently warning the host not to make fun of the pet's name.
“No, I would never insult a dog named for something,” Stewart responded before joking: “My dog is named Holocaust.”
The host also stated that he and his staff “have many dogs in the office. Are you nervous that when he gets around liberal dogs and realizes that here at The Daily Show, treats are distributed equitably?”
Perino ignored the question, and the conversation again turned to Bolling.
“Did he tell you about the person he has a real crush on?” Stewart asked. After he revealed the woman's first name, Perino said he was referring to “Andrea Tantaros, who's the co-host of Outnumbered [the noontime program that has four women panelists and one male guest] and she's on The Five, too. “
The host asserted that Bolling “constructs very elaborate scenarios where the two of them are, like, he saves her from, like, a subway platform or, like, a bad guy tries to push her over, and he saves her and, like, she reaches up and grabs – .”
Fortunately, Perino interrupted Stewart by asking: “Who would have thought that The Daily Show and The Five -- it's like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, you know, peanut butter and chocolate? Maybe we could all get together here and have a mash-up” featuring the people from both programs.
“I think it's more like a sh** taco,” the Comedy Central host joked. “I'm not saying who's who. I'm just saying I don't know that it's necessarily two great tastes that go great together.”
Stewart continued: “Let me ask you a question: When you walk in, like, the Roger Ailes wing of the building, is it darker and colder?”
Of course, the liberal comedian was trying to insult the Fox News Channel president, even though Ailes has had a long and successful career.
However, Perino replied: “I'm there.” As a result, “it's all sunshine and light.”
“Are you really there?” the liberal host asked in surprise. “You are very optimistic.”
“I am,” The Five co-host answered.
When asked if she has always been this positive, Perino finally got an opportunity to talk about her book, in which she states she grew up on a ranch in Wyoming and has always been a morning person.
The conversation took a strange turn when the comedian said: “I feel like you and I, like, grew up in the same way. Maybe that's why we're both so sunny.”
Perino didn't accept that concept, instead asking: “Are you like a pessimist's pessimist or an optimistic pessimist?”
“I'm not a pessimist at all,” Stewart answered. “I think I'm an optimistic idealist. I believe deeply in goodness. ... This is: 'Come on! Don't let a couple of a**holes ruin the whole thing!'”
“OK, I agree,” Perino noted. “There's good news out there.”
After a long moment of awkward silence, she repeated: “There is.”
“Yeah, but it's just not news,” the liberal comedian asserted. “Good isn't news. News is terrible.”
“Right,” the Fox News Channel co-host said before referring to The Five, “but we certainly give you a lot of material to work with."
“I do appreciate that, and it's nice to see you again,” Stewart concluded. “Congratulations on everything, and tell the dumb guy I said 'Hi.'”
As NewsBusters previously reported, the liberal comedian announced earlier this year that he will step down as the long-time host of The Daily Show sometime in 2015.