Jon Stewart on Thursday dismissed questions over whether the Federal Communications Commission — chaired by Project 2025 contributor Brendan Carr — would “go after” shows with a “conservative bias.”
The comments from Stewart arrived on the latest episode of his “Weekly Show” podcast after producer Brittany Mehmedovic referred to Fox News’ coverage of alleged left-wing bias on television.
“This is them trying to police and create rules that they would never follow,” Stewart said.
“The idea that by having what may be a more left-leaning or progressive bent or just bringing in — that’s how Fox is popular!”
Stewart turned his attention to Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld, who — while benefiting from an earlier 10 p.m. EST slot compared to other late-night hosts — has continued to dominate in the ratings department.
“He’s not popular because he’s a both-sides guy… He’s relentless, and after a day of watching Fox News and being bathed in their very purposeful propaganda, it’s a great way to top off the night,” Stewart said.
He proceeded to mock former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, who recently criticized comics for getting too political.
“The whole thing is fucking ridiculous,” he said.
Stewart’s remarks arrive just weeks after CBS announced its decision to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
While CBS claimed the move was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” critics questioned if the network did so for political reasons, as its parent company Paramount Global looked for FCC approval on a multibillion-dollar merger with SkyDance Media.
Earlier in the month, Paramount agreed to a $16 million settlement with Trump over his widely criticized “60 Minutes” lawsuit.
Carr, who has notably sought to use the agency to punish broadcasters deemed unfair to the president and conservatives, recently mocked Democrats “wailing” over the “Late Show” cancellation.
He’s gone on to dodge questions over whether Trump had “anything to do” with the move.
Stewart slammed Carr’s “shitposting” and predicted that he won’t be going after conservative-leaning programs.
“He is probably right now on a search for more right-wing billionaires that can buy up some more of these properties because there’s going to be an acquisition and merger spree for these kinds of things,” he said.
