Jon Stewart has issued a direct message to Elon Musk after pointing out a “bulls***” discrepancy with the billionaire’s claims he isn’t politically neutral.
Last month, Musk, who has been tasked by the Trump administration to slash US government spending, said he would be interviewed by Stewart on The Daily Show if it “airs unedited”.
The official account of Comedy Central’s satirical news show quoted his tweet and replied: “We’d be delighted!”
Stewart doubled down on this stance on Monday (3 March), telling viewers: “After thinking about his offer, I thought, ‘Hey, that’s actually how the in-studio interviews normally air, is unedited. So, sure, we’d be delighted.”
He added that he “thinks it’ll be a very interesting conversation”.
However, Stewart has taken umbrage with a claim Musk made in a follow-up post on X/Twitter, which he owns.
“He then said, after saying he’d like to come on, ‘Jon Stewart cannot be trusted’, and that I am a propagandist and that I am not bipartisan,” Stewart revealed.
Addressing Musk’s strong allegiance to Trump, the host added: “Again, the guy who custom-made his own Dark-MAGA hat – that he wears to opine in the Oval Office with the president who he spent $270m to elect – thinks I’m just too partisan.”
Issuing a message directly to Musk, Stewart said: “Look, Elon, I do have some criticism about DOGE. I support, in general, the idea of efficiency and delivering better services to the American public in cheaper and more efficient ways. And if you want to come on and talk about it on the show, great. And if you don’t want to, sure.
“But can we just drop the pretence that you won’t do it because I don’t measure up to the standards of neutral discourse that you demand and display at all times? Because, quite frankly, that’s bulls***. You know it, I know it. It’s bulls***.”
Stewart’s comments arrived one week after he cut his hand open when he slammed his mug down during an impassioned segment on Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Musk.
The host continued his segment with his right hand under his desk before being bandaged up during a commercial break and, eventually, seeing out the remainder of the show.
He later added that he wants “DOGE to work” alongside a more efficient government.
“I want to get rid of the alphabet agencies that don’t do enough. Make the Pentagon pass an audit. But we are DOGE-ing in the wrong place if we want to really change the system,” the comedian said.
