Jon Stewart Bleeds On Air in DOGE Stunt Gone Horribly Wrong
Jon Stewart derailed his monologue in a bloody turn of events Monday night, smashing a coffee mug, cutting his hand, and, in the process, bleeding all over his desk.
Stewart was ranting about Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which the Daily Show host argued was doing a terrible job at reducing wasteful spending.
“I’m starting to think that we as a country don’t understand where the real waste, fraud, and abuse in our system really is,“ Stewart said.
He jokingly offered to join DOGE and submit his own ideas for cutting government spending. To do so, he brought out a big calculator, as well as the coffee mug he’d end up breaking.
Stewart’s advice for DOGE: “How about we just take $3 billion in subsidies we give to oil and gas companies that already turn billions in profits?”
He added, “Oh, wait! How about we just close down the carried interest loophole on hedge funds? That’s $1.3 billion a year. How about we stop the $2 trillion we’ve given to defense contractors to build a fighter jet that blows?”
What angered Stewart the most, however, was the government subsidies towards pharmaceutical companies.
“Pharmaceutical companies get everything from our government,” Stewart said. “Tax breaks, research grants, patent extensions worth billions of dollars. And what do we the people get for it? The highest drug prices in the western hemisphere.”
Stewart played a 2024 clip of former President Joe Biden celebrating that he got Big Pharma to lower the prices on 10 drugs.
“Oh, can it be?” Stewart sarcastically replied. “The companies we subsidize with billions of dollars are allowing us the privilege to negotiate the price of 10 of their drugs?”
Stewart grew more heated, adding, “And 10 is all of them, right? It would be embarrassing if it was a small drop in the bucket, and that the American people didn’t expect that we should negotiate for all their f---ing drugs because we’ve already paid for it with our subsidies!”
At that moment, Stewart smashed his mug on the desk, yelling, “Come on!” as he did it.
Stewart seemed surprised when the cup shattered. He looked at his hand for a beat, then promptly hid it under the desk away from the camera.
“I’ll be going to the hospital soon,” he joked.
Stewart did not let the surprise injury stop him from making his larger point, however.
“Government’s role should be to ease the negative effects on Americans of [capitalism’s] exploitation, not subsidize that treachery with our money,” he argued.
Stewart summed up the situation as, “We’re getting f---ed at a Diddy party, and they’re making us buy the baby oil."
A few minutes later he pulled his hand out from under the desk, revealing blood on his hand and fingers. The audience let out a shocked reaction.
“It’s fine! It’s fine,” he told viewers, although he broke into a laugh.