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Talk show host Jon Stewart fumed on Wednesday over President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund, arguing it is latest move to “troll” the American people and take their money.
Democrats and even Republican allies have balked at Trump’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as concerns over where the money comes from and who gets it ripple through the Capitol. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the $1.78 billion fund earlier this week in a deal struck between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to drop his $10 billion lawsuit.
Stewart took questions on Wednesday’s episode of his podcast, and was asked whether he would prefer to vote for former President Richard Nixon or Trump.
The talk show host said he would undoubtedly prefer Nixon “if only to get the EPA” and joked he would be seen as a communist by modern Republicans.
APOLOGIES AND CASH HEADED TO ALLEGED ‘WEAPONIZATION’ VICTIMS IN BILLION-DOLLAR TRUMP SETTLEMENT
Comedy Central host Jon Stewart said Thursday he still believes the Democratic Party is “a mess” despite their recent election wins. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)
“Yeah Watergate is cute now,” a co-host said, suggesting Nixon’s scandal looks tame compared to Trump’s controversies.
Stewart said he had a murky memory of a purported slush fund scandal amid Nixon’s presidency, but said it was petty in comparison to the one Trump is pushing.
“But think about that in comparison to $1.8 billion of taxpayer money, at least I think Nixon’s slush fund was donors!” he said. “This is f—ing OUR money. I mean, it’s– do we even have a Congress or a court?”
After a co-host noted the $1.776 billion appears to be a tongue-in-cheek reference the nation’s founding in 1776, Stewart argues the whole situation is Orwellian.
“It’s all Orwell. It’s all a ‘f— you’ troll. Everything they’re doing is a ‘f— you’ troll to us. ‘This is against the weaponization of it and it’s patriotic.’ They’re trolling us. His entire career is a troll,” he said. Stewart went on to lament, “They’re going to give it to people that sprayed MACE at police officers and pretend that they’re rewarding patriotism.”
TRUMP ADMIN PUSHES BACK ON ‘SLUSH FUND’ ATTACKS AGAINST ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND AND LAYS OUT WHO QUALIFIES
Talk show host Jon Stewart and the cohosts on his podcast spoke about how President Richard Nixon’s controversies seem relatively tame and quaint compared to President Donald Trump’s. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
He went on to argue that the Trump administration is like a viral form of theft that has been commonly seen on social media.
“You know what it reminds me of? You ever see those videos where like, a horde of teens flies into, like, a CVS and just starts taking s—?” he asked, “and everybody’s just standing around, like, ‘Is anybody going to call somebody or are we just going to-‘ like, that’s what we are.”
“The Trump administration is a smash and grab on the American public, on the taxpayer,” he concluded. “It is the most corrupt, just utterly unsheathed, unleashed on us, and they are just grabbing whatever they can and pretending that it’s remuneration for some victimhood that they faced that’s all fictitious. It’s nonsense. Wild. Smash and grab.”
Digital reached out to the White House and did not receive immediate reply.
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Jon Stewart suggested that the Trump administration acts like a mob of teens rushing a store to commit mass theft while onlookers are stunned into inactivity. (Screenshot/Comedy Central)
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‘ Alex miller contributed to this report.
