Jon Stewart welcomes Rick Perry to the 2016 race with a big cheer, slick Duggar joke

Jon Stewart welcomes Rick Perry into the presidential race — (Image credit: The Daily Show)

Jon Stewart started out Thursday night's Daily Show with a Duggar family joke. "We can't ignore the big story that everyone's talking about," he started out solemnly. "It's pretty upsetting, and it only seems to get worse, a tragic tale of repressive belief, self-denial, and really a refusal to accept the consequences of one's words and actions: 19 and counting — by which I mean the number of candidates in the 2016 presidential race."

Stewart got through his friendly mockery of former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee pretty quickly, and ended with a shake of the finger at Jeb Bush. But he lingered on the man who jumped in the race on Thursday. "Rick Perry is running for president," Stewart cheered. "Wow, prayer really does work!" He pulled out a line from Perry's announcement as a suggested campaign theme, "Risk the Consequences," comparing Perry's run to unprotected sex. But mostly he had fun at Perry's expense. Watch below, but first a warning: Jessica Williams gets a little NSFW with the language at the end. 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.