After former First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama gave rousing speeches in support of Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention (DNC, former President Donald Trump offered muted praise of his predecessor. But comedian Jon Stewart isn't buying it.
The Obamas' speeches were full of jabs at Trump, with Michelle Obama ripping her husband's successor in the White House by saying his "narrow" worldview meant he was "threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black." She further added that the presidency could be "one of those Black jobs," in reference to a comment he made at the June presidential debate. Barack Obama mocked the 45th president's "weird obsession with crowd sizes," notably manipulating his hands in a manner similar to Trump, drawing laughter from the crowd of more than 20,000 DNC attendees.
In a Tuesday interview with CNN, Trump referred to the 44th president of the United States as a "nice gentleman," saying "I respect him and I respect his wife." But in the most recent episode of his podcast, Daily Show host and executive producer Jon Stewart called Trump's compliment "bulls—."
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On his podcast, The Weekly Show, Stewart railed Trump's remarks and reminded viewers of his past "disgusting treatment" of the First Family. He further opined that he could tell Michelle Obama in particular was still "wounded" by the "vile, conspiratorial, personal [and] disturbing" attacks from Trump and his movement during her husband's administration.
"Him saying it doesn't make it true. He was the leader of an absolute torrent and river of slime [toward the Obama family]. And I imagine for her, she thought, 'we've given our pound of flesh to this endeavor, and I don't want any part of that anymore,'" Stewart said.
Trump was famously the first major cultural figure to start promulgating the false "birther" claim that Barack Obama was not actually born in the United States (his birth certificate shows he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in August of 1961). As the New York Times reported in 2016, Trump still refused to walk back the lie for years despite the matter of Obama's birth being settled. At the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, when Trump was in attendance, Obama singled him out for ridicule.
"There's a rumor floating around that I think could really hurt Mitt Romney. I heard he passed universal healthcare when he was governor of Massachusetts! Someone should get to the bottom of that. And I know just the guy to do it: Donald Trump! Now I know that he's taken some flack lately, but no one is happier — no one is prouder — to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald," Obama said. "And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter. Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?"
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Michelle Obama's speech was considered the more high-profile event of Tuesday night, with pundits and commentators praising her speech even more than her husband's. This was likely due to the starkly more combative tone the former first lady took at the lectern, which was a departure from her old motto of "when they go low, we go high."
Thursday night marks the final night of the DNC, with numerous prominent members of Congress, U.S. senators and governors all taking the stage. Harris will be accepting the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination at the conclusion of the convention, making her the first woman of color to do so in American history.
Watch Stewart's comments below, or by clicking this link.
