Jon Stewart has shared how he’s feeling one week into Donald Trump’s second term as President.
The Daily Show host, 62, who recently gave a generous opinion on Elon Musk’s alleged “Nazi salute” after Trump became the 47th US President, admitted the past seven days have drained his energy levels.
Stewart revealed at the start of his show on Monday (27 January) that he had found Trump’s return to office “exhausting” and jokingly rubbing tears out of his eyes ahead of the admission.
“The return to 1600 Trumplvania Avenue was as disorienting and chaotic as I imagined,” he continued.
“But then we had a weekend. Serenity now. And then we could finally catch our breath, begin to move forward with intentionality. Namaste.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Stewart mocked Democrats for calling Trump “un-American” and “authoritarian” for signing a slew of executive orders during his first week back as President.
Stewart launched the segment with a selection of cuttings from news outlets claiming Trump had begun a “purge” after the President fired more than a dozen inspector generals without giving the proper notification to Congress.
“Ah! Trump has ushered in the purge,” Stewart shouted, pulling out a toy axe from beneath his desk.
“Although, just in case I’m misinterpreting, what is this purge about, exactly?” he asked, in reference to the dystopian slasher film of the same name.
Upon clarification, Stewart joked: “No! He got rid of 17 inspectors general? That only leaves… No one knows how many left.
“Who knows how many generals will now go uninspected? Democrats, inspire my anger, in the least charismatic way possible!”
Later in the show Stewart noted that, although he has “a lot of fear” that the forthcoming Presidential term could get “a little fascist-y”, all of Trump’s power has been granted to him electorally.
“For some reason, we have given presidents the power of a king, and then we say, ‘Well, you’re not going to get all kingly and sh** on us, right?’ Stewart asked.
“To put that in constitutional terms, if I could, don’t hate the player, hate the founding fathers,” he added. “Because I don’t know if you’ve met Donald Trump, he pushes sh**.”
The Daily Show host closed the segment with a message for Democratic leaders: “The question is probably not, ‘How dare he?’ The question should be, ‘What are you learning from this? How would you use this power? What is your contract with America?’” he said.
“Democrats exist outside of him,” Stewart continued. “Tell people what you would do with the power that Trump is wielding, and then convince us to give that power to you as soon as possible! That is the goal.”