Jon Stewart spent part of Monday night taking aim at President Donald Trump and what he says are repeated false claims about Iran’s nuclear program. The Daily Show host used his opening monologue to break down Trump’s statements about bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities and to question whether the president’s story adds up.
Stewart did not hold back as he introduced the topic to viewers. Speaking directly to the audience, he argued that Trump’s long record of exaggerations and misleading statements has now collided with the reality of an ongoing conflict.
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“Look, Donald Trump is without a doubt one of the most prodigious liars this country has ever produced. He’s our Supreme Misleader,” Stewart said during a monologue about Trump’s war against Iran. “But the chaos this very actual war is creating is making us question even his reality-distorting powers. Let’s step back into the wayback machine. All the way back, I don’t know, June, when Israel and the United States first bombed Iran’s nuclear program.”
Stewart then rolled a series of clips showing Trump confidently describing the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In the clips, Trump repeatedly suggested the attacks had completely wiped out the country’s nuclear capability.
“We wiped out the nuclear capability of Iran. Obliterated it,” Trump said in one clip.
In others he added, “It was obliterated like nobody’s ever seen before,” “I would say it’s set back permanently,” “That place is under rock. That place is demolished,” and, “They’re never gonna have nuclear.”
Stewart paused after the clips and repeated the key words for emphasis while reacting to the president’s claims.
“Never. Permanently. Obliterated,” reacted Stewart. “I’m sorry, Kaitlan Collins, you have a question?” The show then played another clip from CNN where host Kaitlan Collins pressed Trump about a contradiction in his earlier statements.
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“If you obliterated their nuclear sites last Summer with your strikes, then how can you argue it was an imminent threat now?” Collins asked. Trump responded by suggesting the facilities could still potentially be accessed despite the earlier attacks.
“We hit them so hard we oblitted them – obliterated them, but that doesn’t mean with the right equipment you can’t dig down and go get it,” answered Trump in the clip. Stewart responded with visible frustration, saying the explanation completely undermined the president’s earlier claims about total destruction.
“Actually, I think it’s exactly what it means. God damn it. Motherf*cker. It’s so annoying.”
To drive the point home, Stewart pulled out a dictionary on air and read the definition of the word that had become the center of the debate.
“‘To obliterate: to destroy completely, leaving nothing behind.’ There’s nothing in here about, ‘Well, we completely obliterated it, unless they have shovels.’”