Jon Stewart ripped into Donald Trump for threatening journalists who chose to report on his health.
On Thursday’s episode of “The Weekly Show,” Stewart laid into the president for calling reports on his health as libelous when writing about it negatively. The host made his own cracks against Trump’s health while calling him out.
“First of all, I think he’s doing great healthwise,” Stewart said. “I think he looks great. I have found – and again I’m not an orthopedist – but the thicker the ankle, the better the balance … if your ankles are tree trunks, you can’t get knocked over. You can’t break the hip, and that’s really the beginning of the downward slide.”
He added: “I would suggest that in-and-of-itself would give you confidence that this may be the healthiest, most robust president that we’ve ever had in the history of the United States of America.”
As Stewart went on, he noted that “the level of fealty can never rise to a level that is satisfactory” for Trump.
“There is no level of ass-kissing that you can do,” he continued. “Everything is seditious that falls beneath the level of ‘My God, sir, thank you for not allowing too many hurricanes to hit the United States,’ as Kristi Noem did in that stupid cabinet meeting that they had.”
Trump first went after journalists reporting on his health after a New York Times story went up and pointed out the ways he’s visibly flagging in office. Trump, in turn, posted a rambling Truth Social post, in which he claimed those who pointed out his health flaws were “Enemies of the People.”
“Despite all of this, the time and work involved, The New York Times, and some others, like to pretend that I am ‘slowing up,’ am maybe not as sharp as I once was, or am in poor physical health, knowing that it is not true, and knowing that I work very hard, probably harder than I have ever worked before,” Trump wrote. “I will know when I am ‘slowing up,’ but it’s not now! After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.’ They are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it.”
Stewart’s attack on Trump comes only a day after The New York Times defended itself against the president’s criticism. They pointed out Trump’s hypocrisy, reminding the president that he “welcomed” their reporting when it questioned his predecessor’ health.
“Mr. Trump welcomed our reporting on the age and fitness of his predecessors; we’re applying the same journalistic scrutiny to his vitality,” spokesperson Nicole Taylor wrote in a statement. “Our reporting is heavily sourced, based on interviews with people clsoe to the president and with medical experts. We won’t be deterred by false and inflammatory language that distorts the role of a free press.”
