Former Comedy Central “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart cannot rule himself out of a future tilt at high office, drawing inspiration from what he calls “the shitheads” currently in Congress.
Stewart revealed his combination of ambition and despair when he exclaimed, “Oh, god. How do you not?” to Kara Swisher in an episode of her New York Times “Sway” podcast released Thursday, when asked if he ever secretly held political ambitions.
“How do you not when you watch all that and you’re like, oh my god, what is — this is terrible,” the Apple TV+ “Problem with Jon Stewart” host said, according to a report by The Hill.
“It’s sort of like when you get in a car and the one driver’s drunk, and you’re like, ‘Did you ever think about taking the wheel?’ You’re like, ‘Yeah, I did,’” Stewart added.
The Emmy Award winner did sound once note of critical self-caution after Swisher noted President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) brought their own temperament to their roles.
“It’s having the patience, like, ‘How come that person gets to still be here? Make that person leave!’” Stewart replied, adding:
I also think, like, there’s a lot that goes around that — that has nothing to do with passion or care about issues, or wanting to help people — that has to do with fundraising, and the way the game is played and the lack of perspective on it.
Sometimes I feel like, well, I can be more effective on the outside than on the inside.
The 59-year-old entertainment veteran also declaimed Republicans for what he alleged was their defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
“I think for years, it’s been pretty clear that they would much rather do a deal with Putin than [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)],” Stewart inferred of Trump and his GOP allies.
“They view Putin as a defender of Western civilization. They view him as an ideological brother.”