Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Jon Stewart Blasts Biden Campaign’s ‘Blatant Bullsh*t’ About President’s Mental Abilities

“Daily Show” host Jon Stewart criticized President Joe Biden’s campaign for offering “blatant bullshit” about Biden’s health following his debate with former President Donald Trump.

“Daily Show” host Jon Stewart criticized President Joe Biden’s campaign for offering “blatant bullshit” about Biden’s health following his debate with former President Donald Trump.

Biden has resisted calls to step aside after a poor performance in the June 27 CNN debate against Trump, during which Biden froze at least twice, lost his train of thought and made multiple verbal gaffes. Stewart ripped into Democrats for offering a variety of excuses for Biden’s poor performance, which included having a cold and suffering from “jet lag” due to the president’s trips abroad in the weeks prior to the debate, during a nine-minute rant.

“Biden’s performance and inability to articulate at times was stunning,” Stewart said near the beginning of the rant. “Like, I could not believe what I was watching… But then it got worse. Rather than respecting the American people and having an honest, at least, conversation about what we had all seen, we were told immediately, ‘These are not the droids you’re looking for.’”

“For a campaign based on honesty and decency, the spin about the debate appears to be blatant bullshit,” Stewart said following a montage of prominent Democrats making excuses for the debate performance. “And the redemption tour hasn’t gone that much better.”

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Biden has faced calls for him to drop out of the presidential race since the debate, with multiple House Democrats doing so publicly, according to Axios. Stewart urged Democrats to audition potential replacements during the August convention, claiming they had plenty of time to replace Biden if necessary, noting recent elections in the U.K. and France.

“Do you have any idea how thirsty Americans are for any hint of inspiration or leadership and a release from this choice of a megalomaniac and a suffocating gerontocracy? It is crushing our fucking spirits! Do you have any idea what could be ahead of you? All we want is for someone to keep it 100 — the percentage, not the age! That’s all we want!” Stewart said later.

“On Monday, anybody who wants to give their sales pitch on how they can make democracy more responsive to the people it is supposed to serve, you can bang it out,” Stewart said, proposing a hypothetical schedule for the Democratic convention in Chicago scheduled for August. “On Tuesday, the winners will move on to the next round and then face Biden. They can face Biden; Biden had a bye. Wednesday would be an off-day, bus tour to find the restaurant from ‘The Bear.’ Thursday, the party emerges energized, unified, sanctified. You could televise the entire proceeding for four days! You could call it, I don’t know, ‘The Apprentice.’ I’m just workshopping!”

Biden’s age and mental fitness were issues dogging the president’s campaign before the June debate. On multiple occasions, Biden said he spoke with people who had died, including claiming in February to have spoken with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, even though Kohl died in 2017, three days after Biden claimed to have spoken with former French President Francois Mitterrand, who passed away in 1996.

“So feel free to ignore any obvious weaknesses in your team’s existential fight for freedom and democracy, and then just white-knuckle this thing ’til November,” Stewart said.