Jon Stewart is calling out a lack of leadership in the Democratic Party as the clock ticks down to the midterm elections. (Watch in the clip below.)
“When you’re in a position for a wave election and the article that comes out is, the guy in charge of the logistics of it is throwing phones at people and is broke … that feels like the story of like, ‘How I Ended Up On Skid Row,’” Stewart quipped.
He later added, “The Democrats feel like, ‘You know, we have a great opportunity here.’ And then they just go around the meeting asking for ideas of how to fuck it up.”
The Times’ description of DNC Chair Ken Martin throwing a phone at a junior aide, a move that reportedly sparked a human resources complaint, was part of a story detailing “paranoia” and “rising anxiety” among Democrats about the state of the party’s fundraising apparatus heading into November.
Martin’s time as DNC head has been met with party backlash due to weak fundraising on his watch and his release of an unfinished draft of an autopsy on the 2024 election loss, reversing his earlier stance against such a move.
His tenure has sparked debate within the party, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) emphasizing his “full support” for Martin, and others, such as Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign finance chair Rufus Gifford, declaring that there’s “no saving” his chairmanship.
Stewart joked that the party is trying to understand how to “snatch defeat” from “the jaws of victory.”
“And the problem with it is it seems so easily rectifiable,” he continued.
“But it is, when you don’t know the difference between Chuck Schumer and [Zohran] Mamdani, and you don’t know how to square that circle, and you don’t have anybody who can unify that message —”
He went on, “Like, how the fuck they haven’t come up with their own ‘Contract for America,’ or even if it’s a gimmick to centralize the general complaints of a public thirsty for some actionable ideas and leadership, is malpractice bordering on criminal.”
Stewart argued that while infighting is necessary, there should be “outfighting,” as well.