Daily Show host Jon Stewart criticized President Donald Trump for seemingly taking digs at late South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham during a Fox News interview after Graham's death was confirmed.
According to a preliminary finding from the medical examiner, shared by his office, Graham died after suffering an aortic dissection—a tear in the inner wall of the aorta—linked to hardening of the arteries. His official cause of death will be determined after toxicology and microscopic testing are completed.
Stewart, who said he had met Graham on Capitol Hill, mocked the wave of televised tributes to the late senator by saying he wanted to "help our friend memorialize" him before playing a series of Trump's interviews.
Trump described Graham as "a great guy" and "a friend," adding:
“He was a great guy and he was a friend. He would call me all the time. He would just– I’d say, ‘Stop calling me, Lindsey.'”
Stewart quipped that it was merely "opening the eulogy on a lighthearted note" and that "I'm sure the poignancy follows." Instead, the montage showed Trump veering into critiques and personal anecdotes.
Trump remarked that Graham loved golf but "wasn't Jack Nicklaus" or Tiger Woods, recalled how Graham had been "totally against me" during the 2016 Republican primary, called that race "tough and nasty," suggested Graham was more interested in prolonging the war in Ukraine than ending it, and ultimately dismissed him as a "total workaholic politician," adding that "some people call that a lot of talking."
To all this, Stewart remarked:
“Well, I think the president has zoomed through the first five stages of grief and gone straight to number six: f**k that guy.”
He added, commenting on Trump mentioning that Graham was the sixth member of Congress to die this term:
“If this were any other business, they’d shut it down to figure out what the f**k is going on. Gas leak? Serial killer? Six of them are dead! My God, those are Petco gerbil numbers.”
“What, do they just come into Congress every morning with a shovel? What the f**k is going on down there? It’s not like the job is dangerous. They’re just sitting there.”
“We don’t have a system that rewards experience and competence and performance. We have a system that rewards incumbency. These people aren’t brilliant. They’re f**king barnacles, utterly incapable of addressing a world moving much faster than the speed of ‘Matlock.’”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
@thedailyshow Jon Stewart thinks Trump zoomed through the first five stages of grief and went straight to "f**k that guy" #DailyShow #LindseyGraham #Trump #JonStewart
Many felt Stewart summed it up pretty succinctly.
Considering how much Graham bent over backwards to flatter Trump, it's no surprise to any of us that Trump is as cold and unfeeling as expected.
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