Notoriously liberal comedian and “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart is chiming into the Madison Square Rally held by Donald Trump over the weekend.
Specifically, about comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s performance.
The mainstream media went wild after Hinchcliffe fired off numerous roasts on Sunday night, including calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.”
The comedian’s comment about Puerto Rico was criticized by people on both sides of the aisle, and political commentators on CNN and MSNBC called it “racist.”
“There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” said Hinchcliffe. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
Stewart played a clip of Hinchcliffe roasting celebrities and athletes at Netflix’s Tom Brady roast earlier this year, which included jokes that many would consider far more controversial than his quip about Puerto Rico.
Stewart was critical of the Trump campaign’s decision to feature a “roast comedian” at a campaign rally almost a week before the election.
However, he said that he finds Hinchcliffe “very funny.”
“Obviously, in retrospect, having a roast comedian come to a political rally a week before election day and roasting a key voting demographic – probably not the best decision by the campaign politically,” Stewart said. “But to be fair, the guy is really just doing what he does.”
“I mean, bringing him to a rally and have him not do roast jokes, that would be like bringing Beyoncé to a rally and not … oh,” he added, referring to the outrage over the Kamala Harris campaign inviting Beyoncé to its campaign rally in Houston last week but not having her perform.
Stewart’s critique isn’t wrong.
Props to @JonStewart for admitting he finds @TonyHinchcliffe funny.
“I find that guy very funny. I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and having him not do roast jokes? That’d be like bringing Beyoncé to a rally and not … " pic.twitter.com/Y3ZFCnRtDb
— Johnny Woodard (@JohnnyWoodard) October 29, 2024
Hinchcliffe responded to the wide-spread criticism, writing:
“These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon.”
These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his “busy schedule” to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a… https://t.co/VFxHRcdv5k
— Tony Hinchcliffe (@TonyHinchcliffe) October 27, 2024