Jon Stewart Criticizes Fox News’ DNC Coverage on ‘Daily Show’ Live

Jon Stewart did it live with “The Daily Show,” hosting a special edition of the Comedy Central talk show after the final evening of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. The program went to air just minutes after Kamala Harris concluded her speech accepting the party’s nomination for the presidential election.

Stewart’s monologue covered events from across the four days of DNC speeches and media coverage, but a particular target was how the conservative-slanted Fox News covered the event. The “Daily Show” host poked fun at the network’s anchors for covering the DNC as a ho-hum gathering without anyone talking to each other. A reel of contributors was shown saying quotes like “the vibes are off” and “this is probably the most boring scene I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, so boring,” Stewart responded. “I forgot your life is a never-ending joyride of talking to Brit Hume in between catheter ads.”

Stewart also dealt some criticisms of the DNC itself, particularly its decision not to feature a Palestinian American speaker amid Israel’s ongoing military attacks on Gaza.

“Really it’s best not to think about the consequences of our actions over there,” Stewart said, drawing focus to other contradictions and lapses in the convention’s unifying theme of “joy.” “They had union leaders and CEOs, Democratic party icons and lifelong Republicans. They had a guy saying, ‘Screw the billionaires’ followed by a very happy billionaire.”

The special live edition of “The Daily Show” was a major production for Comedy Central, capping off a week of coverage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The show had also planned to do on-the-ground coverage during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this summer, but plans were reworked after security at the event was beefed up following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July.

“I love our live shows because they really infuse that energy of what just happened,” executive producer and showrunner Jen Flanz told Variety while prepping for the Thursday broadcast. “We’re not a news show, and in order to comment on the news, you need a little bit of time to digest it and write a more focused take of what the previous night was. That’s what ‘The Daily Show’ does.”