After the moon drifted across the surface of the sun on Monday, its shadow crossing the United States, Mexico and Canada, Jon Stewart took to late night television to point out how certain members of the media and politicians had used the solar eclipse to pontificate on immigration and the wrath of God.
The host played a clip of Fox News warning its viewers that the southern border would be “directly in the path of totality” when the “moon covers the sun for nearly four minutes,” with a co-anchor claiming the network had been “told that officials are bracing for higher traffic than usual and that means a real opportunity for smugglers and cartels and migrants to come right in.”
In response, Stewart stated the obvious: “Or they could just wait til nighttime.”
He also took a jab at Marjorie Taylor Green, who last week interpreted a mild earthquake in New York and the eclipse as “God sending American strong signs to tell us to repent.” Stewart quipped, “How do you know that is what God meant?,” adding, “Why would God be so obtuse? Why would he do that? Or she? Why would she? Or how crazy it would be if God insisted on they/them?”
Stewart also took the opportunity to note that the eclipse had elicited two types of responses from the public, namely displeasure and excitement. When tuning in to correspondent Grace Kuhlenschmidt touting a “Krispy Kreme solar eclipse donut,” Ronny Chieng pivoted hard and said it was a shame they didn’t make glasses that allow us to look “directly at the horrors occuring around the world, especially in Gaza.”
After bidding adieu to his two colleagues, sparing Kuhlenschmidt and her tambourine, Stewart noted that it had been six months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and that it was time for a “wellness check” on Gaza. The late-night host was quick to call out the U.S.’ double standard when it came to it’s full support of Ukraine and President Joe Biden’s attitude that in any “battle for freedom … we need to be clear-eyed,” versus the Biden administration’s lackluster response to the crisis in Gaza.
In the aftermath of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) killed in an Israeli airstrike (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the tragedy as an unfortunate accident) and reports that half of Gaza’s population is at “imminent” risk of famine, the president has faced mounting pressure to support a full ceasefire and pause the transfer of weapons to Israel.
“The verbal gymnastics that the American government must undertake so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of a country we provide most of the weapons for is ——,” said Stewart, who finished his sentence with a guttural scream. “Every time America tells the world that there’s something we won’t allow, Israel seems to say, ‘challenge accepted.’”
He added, “Are they willfully trying to provoke us? Or perhaps they’re just reading our principles from right to left?”
