Jon Stewart slammed Fox News’ coverage of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night, mocking the media’s awkward portrayal of the event’s feisty atmosphere.
“How did Fox News handle the convention initially?” Stewart asked viewers on The Daily Show, broadcasting live from Chicago shortly after the Democratic National Convention ended. “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know if Fox News cared about the convention.”
The show then featured a montage of Fox News commentators claiming that “there’s not much joy in this room” and that “the atmosphere is off.” In one clip, Jesse Watters said, “This is probably the most boring thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Oh, so boring,” Stewart replied. “I’d forgotten what a daredevil you are, and that your life is a never-ending joyride of talking to Brit Hume in between catheter ads.”
The Democratic National Convention came to a close Thursday night to a packed and ecstatic crowd, capping off four nights of joyous celebrations for candidate Harris-Waltz. Joy had been a theme throughout the week, with celebrities including Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey thanking the Democratic candidate for the upbeat energy of her campaign.
Stewart called Watters “Jesse Knievel” and played more footage showing Fox News executives’ change of attitude, including one clip in which a commentator was heard saying “people here are having a great time” just after a Stevie Wonder performance.
But all was not well. “They had problems that night,” Stewart said, playing footage of other Fox executives saying, “All the joy, all the atmosphere, all the emotion, are just empty calories. They burn quickly and they make you fat.”
In another clip, a commentator remarked: “You don’t eat good vibes, do you?”
Stewart looked at the crowd with a look of sarcastic anger and said: “Which one is it? Atmosphere-fattened or emotional Ozempic?”
He continued: “I think you’re right. You can’t feed your family on atmosphere alone. You can’t feed your family on immigration and fear mongering alone.”
At the end of the show, Stewart returned to Watters, who seemed to stick to his position that the atmosphere at the DNC was weird until the very end, at one point saying, “Last night was not as hilarious as the media made it out to be… The lines to get into the stadium were long and quiet. The only fun person in the place was Joy Reid.”
But while he was speaking, Fox News aired footage from the convention, letting viewers see that the event was busy, loud and full of smiling fans.
Stewart said Watters “bravely continued to pretend that the tournament was not going well, even though the footage was playing right next to his head.”
