On a recent episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart shifted his focus from the Knicks’ championship celebrations to the White House’s UFC Freedom 250 event.
Stewart began by contrasting the atmosphere surrounding New York’s title celebrations with what unfolded at the White House the following night.
“Yes, Sunday night gave the president and his acolytes an opportunity to rebut the joyous communion of teamwork that embodied the New York Knickerbockers,” Stewart said.
He then continued with a more pointed description of the event, calling it “a joyless Vegas style trudge through the People’s house now transformed into a gold-plated pummeling center where the gladiator’s god was praised for his forbearance and of course nutsack.”
The show then played a clip of UFC star Josh Hokit praising President Donald Trump during his post-fight speech.
“Shout out to Trump for having the balls to put something like this on,” Hokit said.
Stewart immediately responded with a joke directed at the president.
“Monster energy drink. Is that really cool?” he said. “Are we now just taunting the old man?”
A clip from Bo Nickal followed.
“Got to thank President Trump for making this happen. This is unbelievable,” Nickal said. “It takes such a special person to be able to have the balls to do something like this, and I have so much respect for him.”
Stewart answered with another sarcastic riff.
“Pretty late night, Mr. President. Getting sleepy?” he said. “Got an early negotiation in the morning? I bet you’re not man enough to throw down a red, white, and blue raspberry Snazzler. Come on, snazzle your taint off.”
After the exchange, Stewart delivered perhaps his sharpest criticism of the event.
“What a god awful mockery of an event that somehow managed to find a way to devalue both combat sports and our national dignity,” he said.
The segment later noted that the event aired on Paramount Plus, prompting Stewart to launch into a mock endorsement.
“And what a fine event it was,” Stewart said. “Once again, the leaders of Paramount Plus providing us all with incredible content at reasonable prices. I am proud to stand with the Paramount family and whatever shows they decide to either cancel or put on.”
When a commentator argued that it represented something “middle America, the average American could connect with,” Stewart pushed back on that idea.
“Yeah. You know, the average American, they don’t want their White House to stand for certain morals and values,” he said. “The regular people in this country want their president to live in a slightly more violent Hooters or a slightly less violent Waffle House.”
He finished with one final jab.
“But somehow those of us who live in the other parts of the country are the ones looking down on you.”
