Jon Stewart: I Have No Jokes For You Tonight After Charleston (VIDEO)

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Jon Stewart told his audience on Thursday night that he would not be doing a regular show after the killing of nine people in a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. on Wednesday.

“I didn’t do my job today, so I apologize,” the host of “The Daily Show” told his audience. “I’ve got nothing for you in terms of jokes and sounds, because of what happened in South Carolina.”

“Maybe if I wasn’t nearing the end of the run, or if this wasn’t such a common occurence, maybe I could have pulled out the spiral, but I didn’t,” he said. “So, I honestly have nothing.”

He said he still couldn’t fathom how America could invade two countries, lose thousands of lives, and end up flying drones over the globe, while leaving so much unfinished business at home.

The host refused to call the shooting a tragedy.

“This wasn’t a tornado, this was a racist,” he said. “I hate to even use this pun, but this one, is black and white. There’s no nuance here.”

He pointed out how the Confederate flag still flies over South Carolina while its streets are named after the Southern army’s generals.

“We’re bringing it on ourselves,” Stewart said.

“Sorry about no jokes,” he concluded. He spent the rest of the show interviewing Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

Watch the clip:

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for lio lio says:

    I entirely agree with Jon Stewart except for one detail.
    That flag does not fly over South Carolina.
    On July 1, 2000 it was removed from the statehouse dome and placed alongside a monument to Confederate soldiers located on statehouse grounds.
    I was at the relocation ceremony cheering its removal from atop the statehouse and protesting its placement on statehouse grounds.

  2. “I’m confident though that by acknowledging it, by staring into that and seeing it for what it is, we still won’t do jack shit. Yeah. That’s us.”

    He’s wrong, a facebook “friend” posted this last night:

    “The Charleston, SC church shooting is a tragedy and it is disgusting that it happened in this country. It can be compared to Columbine, Sandy Hook and the Aurora Theater…all tragedies and all in gun free zones where the shooter knew there would be no resistance. Wake up, people.”

    So the solution is more guns. The NRA and many others will do something, Mr. Stewart. Sadly, the response will be a fucking bloodbath.

  3. When the main source of unfettered news is a comedy show, that says a lot about the Depraved MSM.

  4. The article has him say the flag flies “over” South Carolina.

    It looks like it still does. The word “over” need not mean it is on the “statehouse dome” – if it is still “on statehouse grounds” and (as in that photo) fly higher than the dome, why doesn’t it fly “over” SC?

    That at least is how it looks. I appreciate the improvement but still.

  5. Avatar for lio lio says:

    You do realize that is a result of the angle of the photograph, right?

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