Any line between liberal comedian activist and public broadcasting journalist was erased on Monday as CNN/PBS’s Christiane Amanpour joined Comedy Central’s Monday host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, to claim that anti-Trump activism is what “we have to keep doing” amid an alleged slide towards authoritarianism.
Stewart claimed that “It feels to me like the guardrails of our society in America that have failed us have been saved by the people… it hasn't been the corporate leadership or it hasn't been Congress, and it hasn't been the judiciary, although there has been underneath the Supreme Court, but it's been the president says, ‘I want to be like Orban, and I'm going to pull people off the air that say things I don't like,’ and the American people say, ‘[bleep] it then. I am canceling Hulu,’ and three days later, Kimmel’s back on the air. People here, they’re always saying, like, what can we do? I always say back, ‘You are doing it.’ We are holding a line on this, I think much more effectively than people might realize.”
For the thousandth time: President Trump did not cancel Jimmy Kimmel. ABC/Disney suspended him after affiliates refused to air his show out of fear that Kimmel would say something inflammatory after he played around in Blue Anon territory over the political affiliation of Charlie Kirk’s assassin.
Nevertheless, while Stewart was rambling, Amanpour constantly voiced her agreement with sentiments such as “it’s working.”
When Stewart concluded, Amanpour elaborated and, despite Stewart’s falsehood about Kimmel, declared, “I actually agree with you, and I think that is really important, and we have to just keep doing it. We’re fighting the headwinds, right? I mean, it’s very difficult. But we have to keep doing it. As I say, without favor, without being political, being journalists, truthful not neutral, just do it. What else do we have to do? What do we have to lose?”
That ignited a small left-on-left debate about whether the media are helping in that regard. Stewart decried, “Do you think journalists are honest — you define journalism in a different way because, you know, the media is obviously not a monolith, but there is a sense sometimes that the journalists are high on their supply as well. There is a little bit of, like… a little bit of a ‘democracy dies in darkness.’ But they are not showing light oftentimes. They are just playing into the circus.”
Amanpour tried to defend her profession, “Sometimes. Sometimes, you can get very caught up in the circus, as you know, in the horse race instead of the policy. I mean, how many times have pundits and polls been wrong about elections? Okay, my point. But often, we do do the important, ‘good’ news stories when there are elections, and I'm talking about around the world now, where there’s a triumph of justice, when war criminals are put in front of the tribunal, and they are actually tried, sentenced, and convicted.”
It is hard to know just how much Amanpour believes her own tale. Not even six months ago, she claimed she was so scared to visit Trump’s America she brought a burner phone and prepared “as if I was going to North Korea.” Now, she’s back and having a grand time with like-minded people.
Here is a transcript for the November 17 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
11/17/2025
11:38 PM ET
JON STEWART: It feels to me like the guardrails of our society in America that have failed us have been saved by the people.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: And that’s what is meant to be.
STEWART: Exactly. But it hasn't been the corporate leadership or it hasn't been Congress, and it hasn't been the judiciary, although there has been underneath the Supreme Court, but it's been the president says, “I want to be like Orban, and I'm going to pull people off the air that say things I don't like,” and the American people say, “[bleep] it then. I am canceling Hulu,” and three days later, Kimmel’s back on the air. People here, they’re always saying, like, what can we do? I always say back, “You are doing it.”
AMANPOUR: Yup.
STEWART: We are holding a line on this.
AMANPOUR: It's working.
STEWART: I think much more effectively than people might realize.
AMANPOUR: I actually agree with you, and I think that is really important, and we have to just keep doing it. We’re fighting the headwinds, right? I mean, it’s very difficult. But we have to keep doing it. As I say, without favor, without being political, being journalists, truthful not neutral, just do it. What else do we have to do? What do we have to lose?
STEWART: Do you think journalists are honest — you define journalism in a different way because, you know, the media is obviously not a monolith—
AMANPOUR: Yeah.
STEWART: — but there is a sense sometimes that the journalists are high on their supply as well. There is a little bit of, like–
AMANPOUR: Is that a drug thing?
STEWART: Yes.
AMANPOUR: I don't do drugs. Be careful.
STEWART: But there's a little bit of a “democracy dies in darkness.”
AMANPOUR: Yeah.
STEWART: But they are not showing light oftentimes. They are just playing into the circus.
AMANPOUR: Sometimes. Sometimes, you can get very caught up in the circus—
STEWART: Yes.
AMANPOUR: — as you know, in the horse race instead of the policy. I mean, how many times have pundits and polls been wrong about elections? Okay, my point. But often, we do do the important, “good” news stories—
STEWART: Yes.
AMANPUR: —when there are elections, and I'm talking about around the world now, where there’s a triumph of justice—
STEWART: Right.
AMANPOUR: — when war criminals are put in front of the tribunal, and they are actually—
STEWART: Yes.
AMANPOUR: — tried, sentenced, and convicted.
