Out lesbian clinical psychologist Mary Trump is outraged at comedian journalist Jon Stewart after he gave a sarcastic apology for establishing a false equivalency between President Joe Biden and her uncle, Donald Trump.
Stewart’s triumphant return to The Daily Show after a nine-year hiatus was immediately met with Democratic backlash after a segment in which he discussed how a Biden presidency would be equally as problematic as a Donald Trump presidency due to both of the candidates’ advanced ages.
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After the segment, Mary Trump tweeted, “Not only is Stewart’s ‘both sides are the same’ rhetoric not funny, it’s a potential disaster for democracy.”
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Not only is Stewart’s “both sides are the same” rhetoric not funny, it’s a potential disaster for democracy.
She also wrote a blog post calling out Stewart’s “both-sides bulls**t,” accused him of helping Donald Trump with his arguments, and blasted his statement that, “We’re not suggesting neither man is vibrant, productive, or even capable… But they are both stretching the limits of being able to handle the toughest job in the world.”
“In what universe is Donald vibrant, productive or capable??” Mary Trump wrote. “And this statement wasn’t even tongue-in-cheek. Stewart was making a straight-up comparison. There are no excuses here. Stewart knows who Donald is. Donald isn’t vibrant. He is compulsive and unhinged. Donald isn’t productive. He is inept. Donald isn’t capable. He is a disaster.”
She went on to acknowledge Biden’s age but praised his “astounding” accomplishments in spite of it all: “record economic recovery; historic climate and infrastructure investment — massive achievements in an era of vanishing bi-partisanship… unlike his elderly, fascist, and cognitively impaired counterpart in the Republican Party, President Biden is an elder statesman with experience to get things done that can give American democracy a fighting chance.”
Stewart then acknowledged this backlash on the next episode of The Daily Show, sharing Mary Trump’s tweet along with the thoughts of a few others who were just as angry. But instead of acknowledging the real dangers Mary Trump pointed out, Stewart defended himself by saying his show wasn’t that long and accused his critics of opposing discussion in general.
“It was one f**king show!” he yelled. “It was 20 minutes. But I guess, as the famous saying goes, ‘democracy dies in discussion.’”
He faked a Southern accent and sarcastically apologized for having “sinned against you” and said, “It was never my intention to say out loud what I saw with my eyes and then brain.” And finally, he criticized his critics as pushing “unquestioning propaganda.”
Mary Trump did not appreciate this response. She wrote another blog post saying that “he set up a straw man” rather than “engaging in my actual critique.”
“He didn’t defend his false equivalency,” she wrote, “he pretended my objection to his comment was that he had made a comment at all.”
Mary Trump emphasized that Stewart should feel free to express opinions but also that no artist is exempt from criticism. She said she believes it is not a problem to discuss Biden’s age and weaknesses but that it’s important not to equate Biden and Donald Trump “in any way.”
“We saw what happened when Donald was normalized by the media and people like Jimmy Fallon in 2016,” she wrote. “It creates a false narrative that normalizes Donald, the people who support him, and the decision to vote for him.”
She went on to explain that comedy plays an important role in our culture but that humor doesn’t work for everything. She then expressed the most important distinctions between the two presidential candidates.
“Yes, President Biden is 81, but he is kind, he is compassionate, he is intelligent, he has a remarkable team, he believes in basic human decency and human rights, and he has been a remarkably effective president. He’s also not a threat to our democracy.”
“Donald, on the other hand, is a rapist, a fraud, and currently indicted for many extremely serious crimes against our nation. The two sides are NOT the same – and implying they are is never funny.”
