The host mocked Trump’s struggle to brand “migrant crime”
Jon Stewart once again took aim at both sides of the aisle, this time blasting the GOP for deliberately fueling public alarm about migrants at the border, and criticizing Democrats’ failure to stick to espoused values.
On Monday’s segment, the host joked that “every two to four years, we’re reminded that there’s a border,” before playing Fox News and Newsmax clips pushing the “migrant crime” narrative. In one clip, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed Donald Trump‘s rhetoric of “rapists” crossing the border — despite studies showing there is no correlation between immigration and rising crime rates.
Stewart was quick to point out that “it’s all about branding,” and that Republicans intentionally blocked a bipartisan immigration bill supported by the U.S. Border Patrol union because of “how confident they are that fearmongering will be an effective election year strategy” for Trump.
The Daily Show veteran then rolled video of Trump’s clunky attempt to coin a portmanteau for Biden and migrant as “Bigrant crime.” Stewart wasn’t sold: “It really just sounds like a migrant who’s open to cross at either border.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Stewart juxtaposed Democrats touting “unshakeable, bedrock, American values of compassion and empathy” against a snippet of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ flipping from “give me your tired” to “we have no more room in this city” following an influx of migrants who have arrived since spring 2022.
Stewart received a liberal lashing after returning to host the program after almost nine years and firing off at both President Joe Biden and Trump for their age-related blunders. Last week, the temporary host took on “something light” and addressed the war in Gaza, criticizing Israel for civilian deaths, Hamas for declaring Israel must be “removed,” and U.S. and the United Nations for not stopping the suffering of innocent people.
