Jon Stewart spoke out in Tony Hinchcliffe‘s defense on The Daily Show after the stand-up comedian drew political backlash for his controversial appearance at Donald Trump‘s recent rally in Madison Square Garden.
Stewart began his opening monologue by roasting the Trump rally and its attendees, telling viewers, “Now, generally, that’s a lineup that you see outside Madison Square Garden, yelling at strangers as they try to get inside Madison Square Garden… How dare they desecrate the stage that the Piano Man has consecrated? How dare you!”
But he defended Hinchcliffe, whose stand-up routine made headlines after he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and cracked racist jokes about Black people while receiving little to no laughs from the crowd.
“Obviously, in retrospect, having a roast comedian come to a political rally a week before election day and roasting a key demographic … probably not the best decision by the campaign politically, but to be fair, the guy’s just really doing what he does,” Stewart said.
He then shared a clip of Hinchcliffe’s performance at Netflix’s Roast of Tom Brady earlier this year, where he cracked antisemitic and racist jokes about fellow comedians Jeff Ross and Kevin Hart.
While laughing, Stewart said, “Yes, yes, of course, terrible, boo. There’s something wrong with me. I find that guy very funny. I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and having him not do roast jokes? That’s like bringing Beyoncé and not having her .”
Hinchcliffe shared a statement on X after Kamala Harris’ campaign account shared a video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Tim Walz criticizing his comedy routine.
“These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there,” Hinchcliffe wrote.
“I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon,” he added.
Stewart did not spare another comment on Hinchcliffe’s comedy routine on The Daily Show, though he did have criticisms to share about the rest of the rally. But former correspondent Jessica Williams paid a visit later on in the show to encourage voters to stay vigilant.
“Everything’s going to be okay… for you, a white guy — a rich, old white guy,” she told Stewart.
“It doesn’t matter because for non-old white people, for people of color, and women, and queer people, it’s gonna be a completely different story, all right?” she said. “Now, let me give you some advice: Look, Jon, I know you’re exhausted. Hell, I’m exhausted. Everybody’s exhausted… I just want to be clear, all right? Do not let them exhaust you. Don’t let the constant, draining bullshit wear you out. Do not turn away.”
The Daily Show airs weekdays at 11/10c on Comedy Central with next day streaming on Paramount+.