Jon Stewart calls B.S. on Vladimir Putin's Ukraine protestations

Daily Show

Jon Stewart calls B.S. on Vladimir Putin's Ukraine protestations
(Image credit: Daily Show)

Russian President Vladimir Putin "lies all the time," said Jon Stewart on Monday night's Daily Show, citing as a prime example Putin's protestations that the mysterious "green men" in Crimea weren't Russian troops... until he admitted they were Russian troops, after the Ukrainian peninsula was safely in Russian control. Putin is making similar denials about the well-armed men taking over government buildings in eastern Ukraine, Stewart noted, and based on interviews and photographic evidence, it's pretty clear Putin is lying again.

The question is how to respond to such obvious falsehoods, Stewart said. He didn't provide any answers really, but did showcase how adept the supposedly amateur Ukrainian self-defense militias are at doing doughnuts in pilfered tanks. Maybe fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden could hold Putin's feet to the fire? Stewart wondered. It turns out: Nope. But Stewart didn't blame Snowden: "Who would've ever thought Putin could outwit a prerecorded question from a man whose life is in his hands?" --Peter Weber

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.