Jon Stewart Tells Democrats to Skip Impeachment Theater and Fix the Economy

Jon Stewart has a message for Democrats dreaming of impeaching President Donald Trump if they win back Congress in the midterms: don’t bother.

The comedian and host of The Daily Show said on the latest episode of The Weekly Show that pursuing impeachment would amount to a “five-act performative play of House hearings,” and would pull attention and resources away from what he considers more urgent problems facing the country.

A fan had asked Stewart whether it would be a “strategic mistake” for Democrats to center their agenda on impeaching Trump. Stewart’s answer was blunt.

“We’ve already shown there’s no accountability. What I want to see is a full government effort on rebalancing this economy. This is about triage and the corruption of that family — fucking let them drain us like they think they’re gonna drain us. Wall it off so it doesn’t infect the rest of the economy and spend a total government effort at rebalancing labor vs. capital with real ideas,” Stewart said.

He continued, dismissing the spectacle of hearings as a substitute for real consequences.

“I don’t want to see a fucking five-act performative play of House hearings. I just don’t want to see it. I don’t want to see everybody having the opportunity to pantomime accountability because you know they’re actually not going to bring it,” he added.

Stewart said he isn’t opposed to investigations in principle, but he doesn’t think they’d amount to much — he expects Trump would simply “run out the clock” while Congress deliberates.

“You want to do some investigations into some shit, that’s great, but on the triage list of what’s wrong in this country, it is, I’m sorry, sir, you’re gonna have to stay in the waiting room because this guy just got shot and it sounds to me like you just have a sore throat. Do the sh*t that is actually killing people right now,” he said.

Stewart pointed to the slow pace of accountability following January 6 as evidence that House hearings rarely deliver the results Democrats hope for.

“We’ve been in those hearings. If you couldn’t bring accountability to January 6 in two years, what confidence do any of us have that you’re going to be able to untangle Eric and Don’s drone company?” he added.