June 7th, 2011
11:22 AM ET
Jon Stewart on Weinergate: Greatest 'Maury' everTalk about awkward. Ever since U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s been embroiled in a racy photo scandal, “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart has been in the position of trying to talk about his old friend, who's appeared on "The Daily Show" before, with his typical humor. After Weiner confessed on Monday that he did, in fact, post that now-infamous photo of himself, Stewart of course had to address the situation on his late night program. “This is the weirdest f--ing story I’ve ever seen in my life, or the greatest episode of 'Maury' ever," Stewart said of yesterday's press conference. And yet “perhaps the most upsetting thing about having a friend caught up in a scandal of this nature is finding out that a) he’s packing jumbo heat and b) that he’s ripped,” he joked. “I can’t believe this guy and I are the same f--ing age, that’s my problem. How good is the Congressional health care plan?” But after playing a clip of Weiner apologizing for lying about the incident, Stewart aimed (briefly) for a more serious tone. “At 4:25 eastern standard time, this story officially became sad,” he told his audience. “We forget sometimes – I certainly do – that these people are human. And that’s a lesson that’s going to stay with me…until I turn back to that camera over there, and do a little bit on the John Edwards story.” And with that, it was business as usual. How well do you think Stewart handled the story?
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I cannot imagine how hard it was for him to have to not only watch a long time friend go down in flames, but to have to make jokes about it as well in order to stay as non biased as possible. I am only glad that he is a comedian and he is at least allowed to do what he wishes. Do remember that folks...he is NOT a journalist..he does a damn good job of interviewing though and I love his show.
ps. sometimes a weiner is just a weiner
Well said !
I have always been a fan of Jon....no more....sad
Here we go again, concervatives vomitting ignorance onto a public forum... Jon stewart is in entertainment... Hes not voted onto his show... But he remains there because we all keep watching.
What did I tell you?I didn't get a "weiner" today but I did get a pair of very nice shoes..
Social media and texting is opening new ways to express our inner pervert. I say that because we are all perverts. Admit it. Perverts for shoes, electonics, knitting, sending pictures of our bulge, potato chips, beer, cars, etc.
We just judge each other differently based on the "adiction".
He was way too soft on him. If he was not a friend AND Dem. he would have ripped him apart. Stewart has lost all credibility now. Never did I expect he would soft touch anyone like this. Sad Jon, sad.
@ cudders45 and all the rest of the morons who seem slightly confused:
Credibility? You do realize this is a COMEDY show right? it isn't a news broadcast..he has no obligation to be non-partisan , fair or balanced...
I am curious to know if he called Clinton "human" as well?
Weak, Weak, Weak.
Fir the first time in the flawless comedy that is the daily show, Stewart gave his friend a pass...too bad, so sad.
Yes, he not only gave him a pass, but he gave him compliments! But, what can you expect? It is a sad day for the Congressman. I'm sure that when all is said and revealed, his professional life will be changed forever.
Trolls and others would be all his (Weiner)if he had my first name, watch this
Jen you are a dirty $&%#@, with a side of @$%*, topped off with #%$&, dipped in %&$#, and then spackled with *$%&! But you're alright in my book, lol.
Stewart's duplicity and hypocrisy come out. If it were a political rival or a person who wasn't a friend, he would have lit into him. Instead he gave him a pass. MORON!
We heard u make tea outta tampons. Sick f.
Nah, that would be you. Why don't you just eat the Mad R@pist's butthole like a good little stain and move on.
If Weiner was a republican, Stewart would have treated him the same way, because he's a friend. If he wasn't a friend, he would have been abused regardless of political ideology.
We need to see the rest of the photos, full frontal naked. They are out there woof
Come on. As if all of congress is without fault. And who is surprised by a lying politician. He's just a regular cat that just got caught. No difference to all those in the closet with their secrets. He just has to get off his highschool compulsions. Give this guy a lesson on twitter/Facebook/email 101.
I can't remember, did Rush jump on Newt when it came out Newt was cheating on his wife while she had cancer? It certainly didn't bother "family values" Fox News who had no problem giving Newt a job.
Hey handled it with his normal JonStewart genious!
Shut up, Beavis! Uh huh uh huh.
Did someone say Weiner?
I agree with you Jon this is a very sad story on so many levels. He needs to walk away and let the Democrats stop the bleeding so we can kick their butts next election....
http://www.thethrifters.net
I like Jon Stewart, but he should have called out Weiner as being pathetic. This guy was voted into office representing American citizens and they deserved better.
Stewart handled it poorly. Addressing the blatant and repeated lying and deceiving of the Public, only to "come clean" as more evidence mounted would have been the marker of a true non-biased journalist... Friend or no friend, Democrat or Republican. Accountability is lost in American politics. Stewart only perpetuated this sad reality.
If it was a friend of yours what would you do in jons place ? From what i saw in the past week Jons made a dick of the guy.
You do realize the daily show is on comedy central. Should be taken as comedy and not news.stop being so stupid.
I'ts no wonder we're at the bottom in education in western civilization, our boys can't mentally surpass the eighth grade, listen to some of your comments.
I blame the Tokemaster.
Amanda, with all due respect you wouldn't let all of this bother you so much if you were chillin' with me in my hammock huffing a big ol' doobie of some nice Purple Kush. Life is smooooth...! Also, I went to Harvard...
@ ryq
"Close friend"
weiner is his close friend. i wonder what he will say if weiner is not his friend and worse, a republican. double standard. just like david letterman making fun of paris hilton but only to be outed for doing his interns.
weiner is his close friend. i wonder what he will say if weiner is not his friend and worse, a republican. double standard.
You need to read the definition of Socialism. And Fox news must be accurate to you, right? Don't watch if you don't like him.
As a democrat, i have to say, Stewart went soft (no pun intended) on his friend. Believe he would have went in for the "humorous" kill if the guy had been a republican.
And what @Ted is the reason anyone would be jealous of? Peace and MadR@p3R you guys are tampons.
If Weiner was a conservative, Stewart would have had a field day. This is what is known as hypocrisy. Hey John, go f–k yourself.
You must be a tea bagger. He's the guys friend, which means even if the guy was a conservative, Jon would have still acted the same
GOP or DEM, I just have had enough of the circus show. These people in office need to be smarter. If they want to have love affairs, send weiner shots, have babies with their housekeepers, fine. The real issue for me is that they can't seem to do their jobs. This is the result of there not being an IQ test to run for public office. Our country is pathetic.
Typical Stewart. if Weiner wasn't a Dem, Jon would be lambasting him nightly for a solid week. So, if you don't want the all powerful Jon Steward ripping you a new one, buddy up to him. It's scary that so many youth look to his show as their source of news when it's entertainment with an extremely liberal slant. To say Jon is a democrat would be frowned upon by that frippin socialist.
Dude you've got too many negative waves banging around inside your coconut... What you need to do is twist up a big 'ol fattie and get your mind right... Life's short...
Watch Daily Show sometime. You'll see that Stewart hits Dems and Reps equally hard. Sometimes he hits the Dems harder since he's hoping they'll act better than the Reps. Thereby his disappointment is high when Dems don't live up up to his hopes.
LOL – i am slooo. Sorry about that ! : ) Honestly I think they are both pretty nice : )
The fact CNN looks to Jon Stewart for que's on political integrity says everything you need to know about CNN. Isn't the show that leads into this guy puppets making crank phone calls?
Dude you should score some rigtheous herb and get a good burn goin'...it's way more entertaining when you're good and baked....
Lol. Crank yankers hasn't been on in years. Way to keep up.
I thought it was pretty fkn funny, but as I had just blazed some outrageous bud I find it all pretty fkn funny...
That's not the real Peace and Mad R@p3r is cool and someone trolled because they are just jealous.
where are all the trolls? why so few weiner jokes? this is a gift!
hypocrite
I am a Jon Stewart fan. My frustration is that Jon Stewart cannot just pick his friends to "let off the hook." He is brutal on everyone but fair and he has every right to call out anyone who puts themselves out there in the way that Rep. Weiner did. He poked fun at Weiner but in a very delicate way. This story didn't get sad as he describes, this man lied and thought he could get away with it. That is insulting to the public and arrogant to believe the public is dumb enough to believe him. Rep. Weiner, like many other public figures are the ones who need to be reminded that they are human–not above accountability and responsibility. Jon Stewart uses his public platform to his advantage and I believe there is some hypocrisy in how he handled this story compared to others. He is no longer just a comedian and he must know that, he has crossed that line and it has done a lot of good for politics (just look at the Rally to Restore Sanity) but what comes with that is the responsibility to be consistent.
Exceedingly well said!
I wonder if his wife eats hotdog weiners ?
If Congressman Weiner shook your hand would you be a weeeenie toucher ?
When he was a kid all of his friends would play with a weiner.
If you shake his hand you will be a wiener toucher.
Интересно)
I thought Jon handled it very well. Rep. Weiner's "confession" must be painful for Jon as they are long-time friends. Since Rep. Weiner's news conference occurred very shortly before Jon's show was taped, I'm sure Jon was trying to cope with the information. I suspect that Jon will be back to making fun of the incident once he's had a chance to process it on a personal level.
Friends always stand by a friends side...way 2 go jon!!
CA loves jon!!!
In sports commentary they always say, "there is no cheering in press box." Is it the same in quasi-political news? In other words, is it right for Stewart to soften a scandal when it's his friend but instantly take the gloves off for Edwards? Stewart loses credibility when he whimpers for his pervy friend. Wiener is a creep and Stewart shouldn't let him off the hook. This is golden fodder for the Daily Show and it's too bad Stewart doesn't have the stones to swing at this softball pitch. If it was Mitt Romney, Stewart would be in front of his house with a crew. John Stewart just lost a fan because he's a hypocrite.
I respectfully disagree that Jon is a hypocrite. This incident happened to a personal friend of his and the news came out very shortly before Jon taped yesterday's show. Once Jon deals with it on a personal level I have no doubt that Rep. Weiner will be ripe fodder yet again for "The Daily Show."
Stewart has been swinging at this pitch for the past week. Some very funny and pointed material. But he also has a duty as the guy's friend not to throw him under the bus; if a friend of mine did something as stupid, I would let him know. But I wouldn't all-out estrange him, as you think is right to do.
You miss the point. He's not in a position to be friends with anyone. I think everyone should stand by their friends. But he's a talking head that makes money by making fun of politicians. I'm not asking him to be neutral, I'm suggesting he do his job, make fun of creepy politicians. It's not about who his friends are, it's about playing favorites. If you want to play favorites watch Fox news.
I think his cousin went to high school with me. I remember wrestling a few weiners on the wrestling team.
Representative Weiner............................LULZ
He handled it well. It's his job to poke fun at situations like this.
@Peace
LOL 
Good one : )
Boy, there are some very self-righteous statements here.
It looks like Jon S. has known this man for over 3 decades, with that in mind Dem or GOP he was fair.
A.W. is a man who waited until the last few years to marry, maybe he wasn't ready and just maybe a person; man or woman can be very intelligent and have some issues about needing to be wanted by others.
His career is ruined, NY will probably pick that district to close as it was planned to close two districts anyway. His wife will probably leave him, I hope he gets help for these issues but I will not judge him because he is human just like we all are.
It probably broke Stewart's heart to have to say anything. A very sad time that has affected many and I hope that A.W. doesn't give up on himself and finds out why he did what he did through some professional help.
No. He is a morally bankrupt person. I am sick of the excuses people in society use anymore.
As a Congressman he is held to a higher standard.
He should be treated exactly the way the Dems have condemned Repubs that do the same thing.
What makes this worse is he lied bigtime all week.
Why would his district believe him anymore. He is arrogant and things like all politicians he is better than US...
Wow, speaking of self-righteous.JSfan, you nailed it on the head. Seriously, he sent some almost-nude photos to someone. Take it easy. It is a stupid idea to "hold a Congressman to a higher standard". They weren't bred to be Congressmen and women. They are simply human such as all of us. They just chose an occupation, and to be honest, were voted into that occupation. People at one time wanted him as their representation in Congress. Lets not blow a few near-nude pictures out of proportion. And Democrats are berated just as equally as Republicans are for their mishaps. Have we forgotten about Bill Clinton so soon. Unemployment was extremely low, we had a surplus, and the guy simply got a bj. Lets not forget, Mr. Gingrich was one of the head honchos trying to impeach Clinton, while at the exact same time cheating on his wife with an assistant. I think it is too easy for people to forget about their own skeletons in their closet. I guess you've never done anything you're ashamed about or regret, or never lied, chefmom. Yeah...right.
Last week, Jon said that if the Congressman had sent the photo and then lied about it, he's got to go.
No Way ! He is MY boyfriend, Justin. I knew him first !
Easy Jon,
There's enough of that big-boy to handle U and the Beebs in a 3-way!
I agree on everything Jon said. But I gotta ask, would he consider him human if Weiner was a Republican?
Having watched Stewart for many years.. yes, yes he would consider him human and go after him with as much gusto as he has his long time friend.
You bozo's do realize that Jon Stewart is a comedian and NOT a news reporter.
I hear he's filing the paperwork to be considered a journalism.
Open your mind. This is no longer the 18th century.
Handled it well. What else could he have said? And yes it is human.
I knew he'd dust off the "we're all human" excuse. It's true, we're all human but it's never stopped Stewart from frying conservatives. He looks like a big, ugly hypocrite. No wonder those two are good buddies.
Stewart has been on Weiner for the past few shows and said this doesn't look good about his friend.
politicians are like clergy power hungry ego maniacs, I have never seen Stewart do anything hypocrtical and he bashes both sides. and all parts of the media, conservatives always publically take the high morale ground so when they fall there is just further to fall and it seems funnnier. weiner is an idiot but Stewart said as much a few shows ago.
um...Jon Stewart is hott, i'de hit it.
I like me some wieners ! This story sets my loins to quiverin !
Easy Biebs,
There's enough of that big-boy to handle you and Stewart in a 3-way!
I saw the episode where Congressman Weiner was on his show. Maybe it was just an act, but the congressman really seemed like a creep to me. sorry for the negative post.
Check out the pic of him over on the Just In blog, probably the creepiest thing i've seen in a long time.
Hey R@pist? Why don't you just STFU!
He IS a MEGA Creeper.
I am not naive. Lots of people doing it doesn't make it right! That is a load of BS.
I hope his wife sues him bigtime in a divorce and gets the kids too!
He is just as bad as any ass put in power by stupid voters.
Jon handled it as well as can be expected, I guess. But calling him human? What normal human does that, really? His wife will not work this out with him, how degrading! I won't even get started on John Edwards! Shame on him, even more!
A lot of normal humans do that. Look around. It's much more common than you think.
Most "normal" humans don't get caught.
It's sort of a guy thing. Not exclusively, of course, but guys tend to get into this sort of "hot water" more than women. Try to be less naive and more understanding? What he did may be a little odd, but it isn't abnormal or perverted.
he referred to him as human...which he is... Normal? Not so much! What an idiot!
And when your last name is Weiner, I don't think you should be taking pictures of yours!
umm...plenty of people do that. S-xting, tweeting, facebook, etc. I have naked pictures on my phone, it just doesn't matter because I'm not a politician/celebrity. Weinergate wouldn't have been so bad if he didn't lie like crazy about it.
This normal human *may or may not* have done something like that.
I think the reason so many "normal" humans don't send pictures like these is simple: normal humans (in this country anyway) are FAT. If you looked like that at his age (almost 50) and some college girl asked for a picture, you'd send them in a heartbeat. Heck, if you looked that good in your 20s, you'd probably have sent the pictures.