What Jon Stewart Told ‘The Daily Show’ Audience After Cameras Stopped Rolling on Election Night
At the end of “The Daily Show’s” live election special Tuesday night, as it became clear that Donald Trump was heading toward another victory, Jon Stewart delivered heartfelt closing remarks.
“This isn’t the end! I promise you, this is not the end,” the host declared as he ended the hour-long Comedy Central broadcast. “And we have to regroup and we have to continue to fight and continue to work day in and day out to create the better society for our children, for this world, for this country that we know is possible. It’s possible.”
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But when cameras stopped rolling at midnight, Stewart took a few moments to address the studio audience, a few hundred people who had traveled from across the globe to attend the live “Daily Show” telecast.
“Can I tell you what a joy you were, how happy I am to have spent the evening with you and not sitting at home throwing shit at my television screen,” Stewart said. “You have helped us all have a beautiful distraction, and you’re gonna leave here, and you’re gonna look at your phone, and you’re gonna go home, and you’re gonna have that weird feeling where your knees feel wobbly, and you’re like, ‘Do I have hypoglycemia?’ But you don’t! You just have a temporary anxiety and paralysis that comes with disappointment and just a soup?on of despair.”
Stewart added, “It will pass. And we will be back, digging ditches for democracy once again in the way that we have always had to do, and I thank you guys for your dedication, and I thank you for being here. Get home safe.”
A morose feeling had washed over the studio during the final stretch of the episode. Since the audience was instructed to shut off their cell phones around 10:30 p.m., 30 minutes before Stewart went live on air, the crowd’s only information source was “The Daily Show,” which, aside from announcing that Harris won New York and New Jersey, did not feature a lot of actual election news.
In other words, when audience members turned off their devices, the vibe in the room was anxious but not without hope. Ninety minutes later, as Stewart said to camera, “My point is this: ‘FUUUCK!,'” there was a collective realization that it was, essentially, over. (It would be another two hours before Trump declared victory with a televised speech at Mar-a-Lago.) Waiting for taxis outside, people gawked at the New York Times election needle, which had spiked Trump’s chances from about 60% to 90% by the end of the taping.
But two hours before all of that, a comedian warmed up the “Daily Show” audience, quelling election nerves with crowd work — and a joke about how the Trump-Harris race will be the first to resolve with penalty kicks.
Stewart came out to greet the audience with less than four minutes until showtime. “I’m excited that you’re here,” he said. “We’re gonna enjoy ourselves, maybe for the last time — I don’t know!”
“There may be some screwups because it’s live,” Stewart added, noting that tickets to “The Daily Show” are free. “What were you gonna do? Go see ‘Kinky Boots’? Is that still on?”
Stewart then took two questions from the audience, one about when he will come back to Chicago (he answered: “When do you want me to come back to Chicago?”) and another about his own voting process.
“I voted on Sunday in my town. I live in a pretty red town. I went to vote and was — I’m not gonna say glared at, but there was a lot of like, ‘I’m canceling you out, motherfucker,'” Stewart said, drawing laughs. “It’s pretty red where I go. But everything went well. I brought a lot of Dunkin Munchkins, so the election officials were delighted. If you’ve ever seen old people on a sugar high…”
With 17 seconds until air, as Stewart swung behind the desk, “Born to Run,” Bruce Springsteen’s euphoric anthem about self-liberation, blasted through the studio speakers. As the night went on, the commercial break playlist reflected the souring mood — Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” the Beatles’ “Help!” and CeeLo Green’s “Fuck You,” which played directly after a bit in which correspondent Desi Lydic pulled out a bottle of wine and flipped off the American electorate. “Fuck all y’all!” she exclaimed playfully before walking off stage and blowing a kiss to the studio audience.
During a typical taping of “The Daily Show,” the host is known to take questions from the audience, but the live format of the election special meant that Stewart was cut off from real-time news while on air. During the quick commercial breaks, two writers repeatedly rushed to Stewart’s desk with notecards to fill him in on how the election was progressing — and perhaps offer jokes. During at least one break, Stewart checked his phone as audience members pined for any information from the outside world.
With the entire news team engaged in bits adapted in real time, plus pivots from segments apparently scrapped at the last minute (including an interview with Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who Stewart said canceled 30 seconds before airtime), Tuesday night’s “Daily Show” broadcast was a feat of live television, with all of its hiccups and humanity.
Ironically for an election special, it also provided a healthy dose of escapism.
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