Jon Stewart isn’t buying Donald Trump’s usual bag of tricks—and this time, neither is MAGA.
On Monday night’s Daily Show, Stewart ripped into Trump for trying to distract from growing anger inside his own base over how the government—and Trump himself—have handled the Jeffrey Epstein case. He warned Trump that his classic moves won’t work this time.
“We had a whole funny thing planned about tariffs,” Stewart said, “but then Elmo happened.”
Yes, Sesame Street’s Elmo. Stewart showed how the beloved puppet’s X account was hacked and used to post anti-Trump rants and anti-Semitic slurs. The sketch mocked the real chaos erupting online over the Department of Justice quietly closing the Epstein case without new charges or public disclosures.
“Now, the impetus for Elmo’s rant seems to be the Department of Justice memo that has just been released that said the Epstein sex-trafficking case was officially closed and that no new information would be forthcoming,” Stewart explained. “And while Elmo is demanding that the files be released, Donald Trump’s response is brought to you by the letters ‘F U.’”
According to Stewart, MAGA supporters aren’t swallowing it this time. “These are all people who work for Trump that set the expectation,” he said, showing clips of Trump allies like JD Vance and Kash Patel hyping the so-called “Epstein list.” But now, even they look stunned that nothing came of it.
“I think because of that, surprisingly, MAGAworld, for the first time in memory, isn’t just slavishly acquiescing to Trump’s reality distortion field,” Stewart said.
Then came the footage: Jesse Watters frustrated on Fox News. Glenn Beck calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi to be fired. Stewart laughed: “Yes, Pam Bondi, the ringleader. She makes the decisions.”
Trump tried to shut down the backlash by posting on Truth Social, “Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration?”
Stewart wasn’t impressed: “So, just to understand this, in a few months’ time, we went from, the Epstein files will expose the Democrats, to the Epstein files were written by the Democrats and therefore can’t be trusted so let’s move on.”
And of course, Trump tossed in a reference to Hunter Biden’s laptop.
“What?” Stewart deadpanned. “Trump brings up Hunter Biden’s laptop as a reminder for all of us not to dwell on old conspiracy theories?”
But the backlash wasn’t just online rage. Stewart showed a video of MAGA hats being burned on a grill. “You want to know how bad it’s getting out there?” he said. “They’re literally burning their MAGA army uniforms.”
Then came the warning: “If you know Trump, he can always just pivot to the classic Trump distraction—throw something outlandish out there and watch the dogs chase the squirrel. ‘I’m going to invade Greenland. I’m going to bomb Iran.’ He’s going to try something big.”
Case in point? Trump threatening to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship. Stewart let the audience laugh, then delivered the punch: “I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat. That’s not going to be enough.”
He mocked the obvious attempt to shift focus: “Don’t look at our inaction in prosecuting a sex-trafficking ring to the rich and powerful. We must focus on the real issue—the denaturalization of the co-star of Riding the Bus with My Sister!”
Then came the gut punch.
“Yeah, MAGA is losing their shit right now. They cannot believe what they’re seeing. Trump is lying, dismissing reasonable concerns as bad-faith whining, attacking anyone who disagrees? Well, as a resident of blue America, can I just say right now to my red colleagues that my pronouns are ‘how does’ and ‘my ass taste.’ You like it?”
And the final hit: “The Trump that you’re just experiencing now, to your deep disappointment and dismay, is the dude we’ve been dealing with the whole fucking time. You just didn’t realize it because he’s been nice to you.”
Trump’s old playbook? Stewart says it won’t save him this time. The base is pissed. And they’re not staying quiet.
Watch the segment below via Comedy Central.
