The last time Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly sat down together was on Stewart’s “Daily Show”, where the topic of conversation was “white privilege” – Stewart claiming such a privilege exists and O’Reilly refuting that claim.
This time, almost exactly a month later, it was Stewart’s turn to get in the hot seat by appearing on O’Reilly’s “Factor.” Introduced as a “big-time liberal commentator,” Stewart was there to promote Rosewater, a film he wrote and directed, but it turned political, as it usually does, between the two frenemies.
When O’Reilly joked he voted right down the Democrat line, Stewart cracked “I actually write in Che Guevara on each line,” and then joked he wears a Che T-shirt and O’Reilly wears a “Father Coughlin sweatshirt.”
Before Stewart had the chance to promote his film, O’Reilly asked him why Democrats got their butts kicked.
“Why did they get their butts kicked? Because they curled up in a little ball and tried to make sure that nobody hit them too hard.. I don’t even know what they ran on....Right? Here’s what they ran on: ‘We don’t like Obama either. I don’t know who voted for him. We’ve got nothing to do with the guy.’”
When O’Reilly said Democrats don’t want to be associated with Obama’s low approval numbers, Stewart was in deep denial: “His poll numbers are so much higher than the congressional poll numbers. He’s at 40 percent, but the Congress is at what, nine percent? Head lice does better than Congress.”
“I don’t believe he is the leader of the Democratic Party,” Stewart continued. When O’Reilly pointed out Obama is the president, Stewart could only say, “I think he has a bit of disdain for the Democrats, and I believe they have a little disdain for him. It’s not like the Clinton machine.”
O’Reilly then told Stewart that the reason the Democrats lost was not only because of Obama’s low approval rating, but that young voters -- “the callow youth that watches your program didn’t show up.” O’Reilly joked marijuana is now legal in so many states, "there's no incentive for them to leave the house." Stewart covered his face with a hand.
Stewart claimed that Republicans only gained political power by never “owning” anything and winning by “attrition”. He also blamed Republicans for blocking Obama’s agenda:
STEWART: The fundamental problem solving mechanism of our government is utterly broken. And we can all blame it on the president. But let's face facts. When he came into office. When he was at his inauguration, the republicans met in a restaurant and said, we will deny this man any bipartisan agreement. We will undercut anything that he offers to the detriment of the country but the short-term gain of our party. And that is how they have operated over the past six years....The Republicans have had it so good because here is what they say. ‘We don't put our fingerprints on anything. We don't do anything. We don't own anything. And we allow ourselves to win by attrition.’
O’Reilly tried to suggest Obama had Democratic majorities in his first two years, but Stewart said Senate “super majority rules” stopped everything.
Two days later, while Stewart was on another publicity tour for Rosewater, he was asked by a fan if he would ever debate O’Reilly again: “I would absolutely. I always enjoyed it. It reminds me of everything thanksgiving I had growing up, where my relatives would come over. And we would always end up screaming and yelling over plates of gravy and cranberry sauce, and then laughing our asses off while watching football later.”
