Stewart Takes Down Fox News For Poverty Coverage

As we emotionally and mentally prepare ourselves for the giant hole in TV that will no doubt emerge after Jon Stewart leaves The Daily Show at the end of the year, I, for one, am holding dear to my heart the gems that he continues to deliver to delighted audiences in his exasperated, common-sense way. Sure, when the list of his best moments quite possibly spans entire books' lengths, it's hard to not celebrate the fact that a show like that exists in our time. But on Wednesday when Jon Stewart slammed Fox News' defense after Obama's "leeches" remark, I dare say I teared a little bit at the thought that no one else could ever launch such an incredible takedown of an infuriating member of the media.

In the clip, Stewart rips into Fox News defending the narrative on their reporting on poverty that Obama said characterizes the poor as "lazy leeches" of the welfare system. Fox News journalist Stuart Varney said on air, (with a straight face, too, impressively):

As the middle class shrinks and the poor are trapped in this system, so to speak, the president blames us, the honest messengers.

The show cuts to a clip of Varney's passionate defense of his employer (which Stewart called "a rich buffet of bullshit), then shows supercuts of Fox News anchors throwing around terms like "entitlement mentality," "the moocher class," "freeloaders in America," and, um, accusing the poor of "sucking off the nipple of the government." It's a brilliant eradication of Varney's entire defense, which, as Stewart pointed out, is highly ironic considering Varney himself is one of the chief deliverers of this narrative.

Obama's comments at Georgetown University were interesting, one that pointed to his transformation as a cautious, conciliatory president to a bolder leader reminiscent of the candidate that had inspired so many in the 2008 election. And kudos to him for singling out Fox News, whose news actually makes you less informed, a 2012 study claimed, which successfully counteracts the very point of its existence. As Stewart said in this clip:

At one point in this incredibly thoughtful and productive session on poverty, the president made the easily provable and decidedly true point that Fox News' narrative is that poverty is not a function of economic condition, but of character.

It's not so much that Stewart is defending Obama, as some might point out. Rather, it is his ability to call out hogwash on whomever he deems is deserving — be it the president, CNN, or Fox News and its various anchors. There are so many points in this clip worthy of mention, but I'd advise you to treat yourself to it first hand.

Image: The Daily Show (2)