Jon Stewart tweaks Democrats for misplaying the 'race card'

Jon Stewart slams Democrats for misplaying the race card — (Image credit: The Daily Show)

Senate Republicans have held up the confirmation vote for Loretta Lynch, President Obama's nominee for attorney general, because Democrats won't allow passage of a sex-trafficking bill with an abortion provision tacked on. Republicans offered a compromise... and Democrats cried wolf, accusing Republicans of racism, Jon Stewart sighed on Tuesday night's Daily Show — after taking a delightful-but-little-earned victory lap for a change in Veterans Affairs policy.

Not only is Lynch not being sent "to the back of the bus," as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) claimed, but "Republicans holding up the Lynch nomination isn't them being racist — it's them being them," Stewart said. Filibustering Obama nominees is what they do. "If anything," he added, "Republicans are treating Lynch with the same low level of respect they consistently reserve for all Obama appointees. And by playing the race card when it's not justified, Democrats risk being ignored when the race card is justified — which it is, a lot." He bolsters his points with an extended Mario Bros. metaphor and some Reagan/Jesus art. —Peter Weber

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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.