Jon Stewart is livid at the Democrats for caving on the government shutdown.
After 41 days, a small group of Democratic senators crossed party lines to end the shutdown, without receiving any guarantee that Republicans would extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies Democrats had been fighting for.
“I can’t f—ing believe it!” Stewart said at the start of his monologue on Monday.
“They f—ing caved on the shutdown,” Stewart said. “Not even a full week removed from the best election night results they’ve had in years,” referencing key Democratic wins in New Jersey, Virginia, New York, and beyond.
Stewart told Senate Democrats, “You had the wind at your back. Election victories all over the country. The new Sydney Sweeney movie box office bupkis.”
Stewart especially tore into Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“Look, either all eight senators who voted to capitulate coincidentally are not up for re-election in 2026, or Chuck Schumer worked behind the scenes to give in to the Republicans while still protecting vulnerable Democrats, including himself,” Stewart said.
The eight lawmakers were Democrats Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and Jacky Rosen, plus Independent Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats.
While he voted “no” on the legislation, Schumer is facing calls to step down over the issue, with a Democratic civil war heating up.
After describing Schumer as vulnerable, Stewart added to the audience in an apparent ad-lib, “That’s right.”
Stewart argued that the government shutdown had clearly been working in Democrats’ favor, and that Trump’s approval rating was at an all-time low.
“This is what the Democrats have squandered,” Stewart said. “They squandered their leverage, sapped their voters’ enthusiasm, and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.”
“And it’s just too bad that we are now stuck with these leaders that we have on that side, and there’s nothing that can be done about it,” said Stewart.
He then played a Monday news clip announcing the firing of the New York Giants’ head coach Brian Daboll.
Stewart showed the clip mere minutes after he compared the Democrats’ squandering of the shutdown to the New York Giants’ uncanny ability this season to repeatedly blow double-digit leads.
Stewart showed pictures of Daboll and Schumer placed side by side, making it clear he sees Schumer as the Democrats’ version of Brian Daboll.
The audience cheered at the implication that Stewart, like some prominent Democrats, thinks the party should oust Schumer as Senate Minority Leader.
Stewart joked, “So you’re saying there’s a chance?”
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