Jon Stewart has poked fun at President Joe Biden's reaction to the verdict in Donald Trump's New York criminal trial.
The former president was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business documents on Thursday, allegedly to hide "hush money" payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 election campaign.
Daniels claims to have had a one-night stand with the business mogul in 2006. Trump has denied the affair allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He has vowed to appeal the ruling.
During Monday night's installment of The Daily Show, Stewart mocked left-wing media outlets for their "concealed and controlled glee" over the verdict, before riffing on Biden's reaction to the news.
The comedian shared a PBS clip of the moment the Democratic politician discovered his Republican rival had been found guilty.
As Biden walks away from the podium during a White House press conference, a reporter asks him: "President, can you tell us sir, Donald Trump refers to himself as a political prisoner and blames you directly, what is your response?"
In response, the 81-year-old stops.
"No, don't stop," Stewart yells, freezing the clip and banging his fists on his desk. "Don't stop, why can't they stop him, just keep f****** walking."
"Whenever he's out in public and he stops, no bueno," the 61-year-old adds, cringing.
As the clip resumes, Biden turns his head toward the camera and grins widely, which Stewart compared to the "Cheshire Cat" from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Biden then continues to exit the stage.
"Why does everything have to be so f****** weird," Stewart continues in the studio. "If you have something to say about it, say it. If you don't have something to say about it, don't say it.
"But you're just going to stop and hit them with some kind of 70s sitcom freeze frame?"
Parodying a reporter, Stewart asks: "Mr. President, what do you think of the conviction?"
The clip then replayed in the style of the sitcom freeze frame, with jaunty music playing over Biden's smile.
"I mean, come on," Stewart added. "Why?"
Newsweek has reached out to Joe Biden for comment.
Stewart returned to The Daily Show in February following a nine-year hiatus to cover the run-up to the 2024 general election in November. Although many are glad to see the Emmy winner back in the studio, others have accused Stewart of being a "bothsideist fraud" for criticizing both Trump and Biden.
The comedian hit out at Trump repeatedly during his New York criminal trial, making jokes about the business mogul's reported courtroom naps and comparing coverage of the case to O.J. Simpson's 1995 trial.
Although he has voted Democrat in the past, Stewart has not held back on ridiculing Biden, cracking jibes about the president's age and rumors of cognitive decline.
Update 06/04/24 03:32 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include further information on The Daily Show and Stewart's criticism of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
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About the writer
Sophie is a Newsweek Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in Lincoln, UK. Her focus is reporting on film and ... Read more
