Jon Stewart finds a curious dissonance in Ted Cruz's campaign kickoff

Jon Stewart critiques Ted Cruz&#039;s presidential bid speech — (Image credit: The Daily Show)

On Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced he is running for president, in a speech at Liberty University in Virginia. On Monday night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart celebrated, then got down to business. Item 1: Mocking Cruz for meticulously rehearsing every part of his speech, including waving and kissing his wife (here, Stewart had an assist from Samantha Bee and Jason Jones). Item 2: Noting that Liberty students had to attend the speech, or pay a fine.

Item 3 is Stewart's substantive critique, and it's pretty trenchant. In his speech, Cruz rang the libertarian bell, asking students to imagine a world where the government respected their privacy and didn't snoop on their cellphones. "We get it, you're a fan of John Lennon and small government," Stewart said. But Cruz's very next action threw his rhetoric into doubt. After promising a President Cruz would respect their privacy rights, Stewart said, he "told them if they cared about freedom, text your information to a mysterious address that collects your cell phone number for undisclosed purposes." Hmmmmm. —Peter Weber

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.