Stewart Tells El-Sayed That Rogers 'Holds a Special Place Of Disdain In My Life'

Alex Christy
October 22nd, 2026 11:57 AM

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On Wednesday, Comedy Central should have renamed itself Abdul El-Sayed Central. Before The Daily Show smeared El-Sayed critics as racist bigots, The Weekly Show podcast host Jon Stewart sat down with El-Sayed for a softball interview that included some cheap shots at El-Sayed’s opponent, Mike Rogers.

While speaking with the guy who pals around with Hasan Piker and who has said the U.S. response to 9/11 was worse than 9/11 itself, Stewart huffed, “Your opponent, Mike Rogers, holds a special place of disdain in my life.”

 

 

Rogers spent four years in the Army from 1985 to 1989, but Stewart still ranted:

It's this paper patriotism of guys that claim the mantle of, ‘I love the troops. I respect the—never forget the heroes of 9/11.’ This guy, Mike Rogers, was a real pain in our ass in 2010. We were trying to get the Zadroga Act, which was for 9/11 first responders and their health care through Congress. And he was a particularly obstinate, ‘Oh, that's just a New York problem.’ He voted against it all while talking about how much he respects—and ‘We owe it—the heroes of 9/11 and I'm a patriot and all that.’ And it was all bullshit.

It is true that Rogers voted against the Zadroga Act, but he had an alternative proposal that included $150 million for 9/11 responders’ health care.

Stewart, however, continued ranting “And I cannot tell you, he holds a special place along with, like, Senator Mike Lee, the same kind of bullshit of ‘Never forget the heroes of 9/11. And this country was attacked. We got to stand up, and we’re the patriots, and we’re the patriotic party.’ And he stood in the way of these individuals that he called heroes, getting the health care that they needed based on the selfless heroism that they displayed down—so I, and I apologize for the rant on that. But man, does that hold a special contemptuous place in my heart for individuals like that. Truly.”

Naturally, El-Sayed was happy to play along, “I mean, this is who he is, though. He is—he lacks the moral ability to hold himself accountable for his own positions. And so he can both lie to you and say that he is a real patriot. And he would never, ever, ever fail our first responders and then literally look at a first responder who had part of a limb amputated because of his heroism on 9/11 and tell them that I'm actually going to actively vote against your health care because it's a New York problem.”

Stewart was also appalled that Republicans aren’t giving El-Sayed the fawning treatment he was, “So, yeah, I am very familiar with your opponent, and boy, do I hope that—and it's, it's interesting to me because so much of the campaign, if we're being honest, you know, you're talking a lot about your background and how it informed your desire for public service. They're talking about your background and how it informs your dual loyalties to America.”

 

 

He also claimed:

I find it such an interesting dichotomy that as you tell your personal story, it really forms what your desire for public service is. And right now it's being utilized, we'll talk about, you know, you're at a town hall, and this young Tommy we'll call him. I believe his name was Tommy—asked you to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. Now this guy, Tommy, apparently turned out to be a Republican operative who worked for Josh Hawley, Senator Josh Hawley. But what does it say that your opponent is not interested in what part of your immigrant story drove you to service, but it's the part of your immigrant story that makes you worthy of suspicion.

El-Sayed was again more than willing to indulge, “It's that I have—my family has an immigrant story in the first place. And he's going to use that to distract people from the actual issues in this race.”

When someone falls on the opposite side of foreign policy questions, Stewart is more than willing to remind them that Israel is not America. But when his guest has a record of radical associations and statements about people, countries, and organizations that truly hate America, he all of a sudden gets super worried about accusations of dual loyalty.

Here is a transcript for the October 21 show:

Comedy Central The Weekly Show

10/21/2026

JON STEWART: Your opponent, Mike Rogers, holds a special place of disdain in my life.

ABDUL EL-SAYED: You and me both.

STEWART: Well, I'll tell you why. And it goes along with this. It's this paper patriotism of guys that claim the mantle of, “I love the troops. I respect the—never forget the heroes of 9/11." This guy, Mike Rogers, was a real pain in our ass in 2010. We were trying to get the Zadroga Act, which was for 9/11 first responders and their health care through Congress. And he was a particularly obstinate, “Oh, that's just a New York problem.” He voted against it all while talking about how much he respects—and “We owe it—the heroes of 9/11 and I'm a patriot and all that.” And it was all bullshit.

And I cannot tell you, he holds a special place along with, like, Senator Mike Lee, the same kind of bullshit of “Never forget the heroes of 9/11. And this country was attacked. We got to stand up, and we’re the patriots, and we’re the patriotic party.” And he stood in the way of these individuals that he called heroes, getting the health care that they needed based on the selfless heroism that they displayed down—So I, and I apologize for the rant on that.

But man, does that hold a special contemptuous place in my heart for individuals like that. Truly.

EL-SAYED: And Jon, I got to credit you for your incredible activism and staying—

STEWART: Oh, no credit to me. Believe me, it was all these other guys. But I’m telling you—

EL-SAYED: There are a lot of folks, but you helped lead the fight.

STEWART: But yeah, he was a problem in that fight.

EL-SAYED: I mean, this is who he is, though. He is—he lacks the moral ability to hold himself accountable for his own positions.

STEWART: Right.

EL-SAYED: And so he can both lie to you and say that he is a real patriot. And he would never, ever, ever fail our first responders and then literally look at a first responder who had part of a limb amputated because of his heroism on 9/11 and tell them that I'm actually going to actively vote against your health care because it's a New York problem.

…

STEWART: So, yeah, I am very familiar with your opponent, and boy, do I hope that—and it's, it's interesting to me because so much of the campaign, if we're being honest, you know, you're talking a lot about your background and how it informed your desire for public service. They're talking about your background and how it informs your dual loyalties to America.

So, it's—I find it such an interesting dichotomy that as you tell your personal story, it really forms what your desire for public service is. And right now it's being utilized, we'll talk about, you know, you're at a town hall, and this young Tommy we'll call him. I believe his name was Tommy—asked you to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. Now this guy, Tommy, apparently turned out to be a Republican operative who worked for Josh Hawley, Senator Josh Hawley. But what does it say that your opponent is not interested in what part of your immigrant story drove you to service, but it's the part of your immigrant story that makes you worthy of suspicion.

EL-SAYED: It's that I have—my family has an immigrant story in the first place. And he's going to use that to distract people from the actual issues in this race, because the actual issues in this race are that the guy who called him up and asked him to run Donald Trump, took us to war we had no business fighting and now you're paying for it, both in your taxes and at the pump and at the grocery store.

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