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Daily Show host Jon Stewart is known for his razor-sharp humor as he satirically addresses what he sees as imbalances in society, with his latest topic being about food stamps. In true form, what he picked up on most was food stamps critics not wanting recipients to buy or eat seafood.

Jon Stewart Says…

America’s funny man is known for leaving no topic uncovered as he lampoons the left and right alike in an effort to expose hypocricies and inconsistencies, albeit in a humorous way. That he uses jokes to do so is particularly effective because it doesn’t immediately put the audience on the defensive, and instead allows them to both enjoy his message and understand it.

In his latest video, Stewart took on Fox News commentators who are guilty of perpetrating stories that aren’t true, such as SNAP recipients using food stamps to buy things like iPads, cigarettes, fitness club memberships, pet food, and chicken legs at Disney Land. Anyone who’s spent even a couple of minutes on the food stamps site knows this is completely untrue, as the SNAP program is very clear about what can and can’t be bought with food stamps.

He toyed with Fox News, joking that their slogan is “Fox News: We read the chain emails your grandma gets in her inbox out loud like they were true.” The sad thing is, this is truer than it is funny, as Fox News has earned a reputation for not telling the facts as they are.

Bits and Bytes

Stewart interspersed his asides with video footage of Fox News reporters saying all sorts of untrue things about food stamps, with some of the funnier, more skewed sound bites—including Stewart’s witticisms—below:

 

  • Tony Smith (R ) Mississippi State Senator, March 16, 2013: “Not very long ago, [food stamps] was only for staple items—your flour, your meats, those type of things.”

 

Stewart: “Flour and meat! Well, it looks like it’s somebody’s birthday. Steal a ketchup packet from a local establishment, and you’ve got yourself a three-course meal.”

 

  • Gretchen Carlson; September 28, 2011: ”You hear all these stories about people on food stamps that are going off to Vegas, and they’re able to draw out money at the casinos.”

 

Stewart: “Yes, you do hear all these stories. Whether or not they’re true or indicative of widespread abuse is not really the point here.”

 

  • Guest on Varney & Co; January 14, 2014: ”You’ve got people on welfare that are going down to Disney Land, and swiping their EBT cards and buying the big chicken legs.”

 

Stewart: “Now, without addressing the larger point of Disney’s poultry leg of choice being turkey and not chicken, the point is taken, ‘you’re poor.’”


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