Jon Stewart and Seth Meyers took aim at Donald Trump's widely ridiculed performance at the White House correspondents' dinner, with Stewart noting a "hydration break" in US-Iran tensions. The president opted to "stop bombing the Strait of Hormuz and to start bombing at the White House correspondents dinner," Stewart said on The Daily Show.
A Comedy Routine That Fell Flat
Trump's appearance at the annual event drew widespread criticism for being awkward and unfunny. "Normally I'd say don't quit your day job but in this case … I will make an exception," Stewart quipped. He contrasted the performance with rightwing pundits who had praised Trump's "joyful love of mirth," asking, "How the fuck is he funny?"
Stewart played clips of Trump attempting a joke about a UFC fight, noting he "set up the premise and then just walked off into the street." Another clip showed Trump interrupting a roast by declaring he hated the subject, Adam Schiff. "Traditionally roasts work because at the heart of it all you only roast the ones you love," Stewart said. "Saying you hate someone in the middle of the joke really takes a lot of the pleasure."
Crowd Reactions and Trump's Ego
Stewart called out Schiff for having a fat head but added, "You might not be the perfect messenger to deliver a roast about someone's big fat ugly head." He noted that "the only funny part of the jokes was watching the crowd's reactions," with people "clearly rethinking the choices that led them to that night."
Stewart described Trump as "the ultimate snowflake," having "lived so long in a magical world of his own creation curated for his comfort and positive reinforcement." He said Trump had "no one to blame but everyone else," as "a great carpenter always blames his tools and Donald Trump is surrounded by tools."
Stewart also criticized the dinner itself as a "perverse bargain" and "an act of submission," given Trump's history of attacking the press. "He just gets to shake hands with the leaders of a profession whose members he has subpoenaed, arrested, sued, cut their funding, threatened their licenses, barred their access and even had them fucking deported," he said.
Seth Meyers Weighs In
On Late Night, Seth Meyers joked the routine was "so great that everyone was stunned into silence." He defined the night as "a press-hating president speaking at an event honoring the press." Trump's rambling about his "stupid ballroom" led to him "icing his own crowd," making him the "first cool-down comic in history."
Meyers noted that Trump "bombed so bad he kept shitting on his own speech," playing clips of the president criticizing the jokes he was given. Meyers said that when asked if Trump is good for comedy, he replies, "He's better for it than he is at it."
The host referenced the reactions of attendees, saying they "looked like Matt Damon at the end of The Odyssey." Fox pundits defended the performance by blaming the audience for not laughing. "You wanted people to laugh but my question is when and at what joke?" Meyers asked, adding, "In order for you to take a joke, you have to make a joke."
Echoing Stewart, Meyers said, "This is what happens when Trump steps outside the comfort of his Maga bubble," which is filled with people trying to "nurture his fragile ego."
