It's barely been an hour since Monday night's (6/6) episode of
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart aired, and already the episode is drawing fire from critics who think that Stewart was too soft on Representative Anthony Weiner, who confessed to guilt in a sexting scandal earlier on Monday. Stewart, who is old friends with the Congressman, had featured Weiner in various segments on his show, and has stated that the two even lived together for a time. Their friendship goes way back, before Weiner was a Congressman and before Stewart hosted what is now the most trusted news program in America (according to many polls).
So when his friend's sexting scandal broke last week, Stewart was at first skeptical ("I remember there being a lot more Anthony and a lot less weiner," he said of the scandalous photo). He even used the headline "Distinguished Member of Congress" to set up the story. I'm sure you get the pun.
But as Weiner's press interactions seemed to indicate more guilt, Stewart's disappointment in his friend showed. "If you're sending pictures to young women who follow you on Twitter, you gotta go," he told Weiner, pleading with the Congressman to tell the truth. Stewart had expressed his conflict over having his friend involved in such a scandal, but decided to take advantage of the comedic potential with the story -- though nothing got too mean-spirited, and Stewart seemed sympathetic throughout. His disappointment was more damning to Weiner than any of his hilarious rants could have been.
But Monday's episode is what's attracting the criticism. In the episode, Stewart only briefly addressed Weiner's story, marveling at Weiner's physique in a recently released shirtless photo instead of choosing to round on the Congressman for his confession of wrongdoing, which happened earlier on Monday. "At 4:25 the story officially became sad," Stewart regretfully stated. "We sometimes forget these people are human." ...And here comes the outrage:
Mediaite compared Stewart's light coverage of Weiner's scandal unfavorably to his harsh criticism of Eliot Spitzer's sex scandal, for example. But here's why I think Jon Stewart did the right thing: Weiner is his friend, after all.
Face it: Stewart's credibility as both a comedian and political commentator (he's a little more of the latter than he is the former) hinges on our ability to trust him, right? Regular
Daily Show audiences have to know at this point that Stewart is friends with Weiner. Last week, Stewart showed the right amount of sympathy and disappointment with Weiner. Like I said, his disappointment was more damning than any rant would have been. Going any further than the light ribbing he did on Monday night would have dehumanized Stewart. Sure, we look to him as the voice of outrage toward hypocrisy on both the political left and right. But if Stewart betrayed his friend, what would it do for his integrity?
Sure, it's a double standard. I don't think Stewart would disagree with anyone who calls it that. But I'm more content with the fact that Stewart wouldn't trade in his friendship with Weiner for a couple of minutes of righteous indignation. Stewart's still the voice of reason in America -- and this incident only proves why we should trust him more.