Jon Stewart previews, quits, fake C-SPAN show to highlight Senate idiocy on sex trafficking bill

Jon Stewart faux-joins C-SPAN
(Image credit: The Daily Show)

Tuesday night's Daily Show was a shout-out to fans of C-SPAN. To critique the train wreck in the Senate over a human sex trafficking law both parties support, Jon Stewart previewed his imaginary post-Comedy Central show, Hatewatch, on C-SPAN 2. It's all there — the soothing narrator (a pitch-perfect Samantha Bee), the "unapologetically racist" caller (Jordan Klepper), the lingering shot of an empty podium, and the host trying to keep it blandly together.

Stewart, of course, can't keep it together, especially after "turtle man" Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, blames "left-wing special interest groups" for holding up the bill. If you watched Stewart's heartfelt announcement last month that he is leaving The Daily Show, the final part of this creative look at our legislative gridlock will look delightfully familiar. —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.