Jon Stewart believes CNN’s Kaitlan Collins is the only reporter right now who can go toe-to-toe with President Trump and other members of his administration.
The “Daily Show” host revealed as much during Thursday’s episode of “The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart” podcast when he was asked if he thinks reporters should respond to Trump’s insults with some of their own. “Oooh, do like a rap battle?” Stewart joked. “It’s certainly where it’s all going, isn’t it?”
One of Stewart’s co-hosts remarked that they think Collins “has it in her” to come out on top in that kind of context, to which Stewart replied, “Kaitlan Collins is the only one.”
Over the past 10 months, Collins has had several viral interactions with Trump and other government officials, including a heated exchange with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in October over Trump’s attempts to deploy the National Guard in Portland.
In April, Collins pressed Trump, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller about immigrants who had been wrongly deported from America by the Trump administration. The interaction prompted Trump to sharply declare that Collins had “no credibility.” Stewart clearly disagrees.
“I actually think she’s the only one that even they aren’t quite sure what to do with, because she’s always just matter-of-fact like, ‘Because you did say two and a half weeks ago, and I think I’ve got the quote right here,’” Stewart said of the CNN anchor. “They’re all like, ‘What are you doing? Homework? Why are you trying to make us all look bad? I don’t understand. You’re collecting facts and then you’re going to say them back at me, live? Unacceptable!’”
You can watch the full “Weekly Show” moment yourself in the video below.
Elsewhere in the episode, Stewart was asked whom he believes is really responsible for the ongoing government shutdown. “The Riyadh Comedy Festival,” the “Daily Show” comedian joked. “There is no question in my mind if [those comedians] hadn’t have gone over there, done a 10-minute set on poor quality hummus, that we wouldn’t [be here].”
Pivoting, Stewart said he would actually blame the shutdown on America’s Founding Fathers, who “came up with this … overly complex bureaucratic web of nonsense that it takes to get anything done.” Expounding on his take, Stewart added, “I think it’s very difficult when one political party that represents 75 million voters has zero say, authority [or] heft.”
“So, yeah, once again, f—k you, James Madison. Boom!” Stewart concluded. “Every episode should end with that. ‘Thanks so much for watching. Thanks so much for listening. F—k you, James Madison!’”
