What the Outrage Over Jon Stewart’s Return to The Daily Show Does and Doesn’t Mean for 2024

He’s one of America’s great comedians—relevant to our culture in a way few other public figures are. So why has his return to the limelight after an eight-year hiatus become instantly controversial?

Introduction

“Look, Joe Biden isn’t Donald Trump. He hasn’t been indicted as many times, [he] hasn’t had as many fraudulent businesses, or been convicted in a civil trial for sexual assault, or been ordered to pay defamation, [or] had his charities disbanded, or stiffed a shit-ton of blue-collar tradesmen he’d hired. Should we even get to the ‘grab the p…