Comedian Jon Stewart criticized President Biden for an awkward press conference moment when he was asked about former President Trump’s hush money conviction, calling the moment “no bueno.”
Stewart, host of “The Daily Show,” claimed many Democrats grappled with excitement around Trump’s conviction Thursday, a “day that they had been dreaming about,” and showed clips in which reporters said it was a sad day for the country.
“Perhaps nothing personified the delicate high wire between glee and gravitas more than President Biden’s Cheshire Cat press conference encore,” Stewart said.
Biden, who held a press conference Friday about an Israeli-led proposal to end the war in Gaza, was beginning to walk away from reporters in the room when he was asked about his reaction to Trump directly blaming the hush money verdict on Biden. The president then paused with his back to the reporters.
Stewart, showing a clip of the moment, paused the video and cringed, pounding the table with his fist.
“No, don’t stop! Don’t stop!” Stewart shouted. “Why can’t they tell him ‘just keep f‑‑‑ing keep walking?’”
“Whenever he’s out in public and he stops, no bueno!” Stewart said before resuming the clip.
In the video, Biden turned to the reporters and flashed a grin in response to the initial question about Trump. He then slowly turned back and waved a hand to dismiss further questions before walking out of the room.
“Why does everything have to be so f‑‑‑ing weird? Why?” Stewart said. “If you have something to say about it, say it. If you don’t have something to say about it, don’t say it.”
“But you’re just going to stop and hit them with some kind of ’70s sitcom freeze-frame?” he continued.
He rolled a clip of Biden smiling and put a mock TV show outro song over it with text that read, “And President Biden as ‘Colonel Butters.’”
Biden and his campaign largely stayed away from Trump’s hush money trial until early last week, when the campaign held a press conference outside the courthouse with actor Robert De Niro and two police officers who responded to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
On Friday, following the verdict, Biden said it’s reckless and dangerous for Trump to say the trial was rigged.
“Our justice system should be respected, and we should never allow anyone to tear it down; it’s as simple as that,” Biden said, acknowledging that it’s within Trump’s right to appeal the verdict.