Jon Stewart on how the GOP doesn’t know what to do with Kamala Harris

Right-wing media and Donald Trump are struggling to figure out how to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart noted on Monday night’s episode. And maybe that’s why they keep returning to their typical racist, sexist tropes.

Stewart, in his first episode since President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, featured a series of clips in which Republican candidate Donald Trump tried new attacks — with mixed results.

“She doesn’t like Jewish people,” he said in one clip – to which Stewart commented: “Join the club, we’re getting crushed out there.” At this point, I’m not even sure how much we love ourselves. It’s not like the old ‘Seinfeld’ days, when we were riding high. You could get a bagel in Iowa. But of course, that attack may ring hollow, as Kamala Harris’ husband – let me check my notes – Jewish. Do you have anything else that might belittle Kamala Harris’s achievements by suggesting it’s just the power of the Jezebel?

Whereupon he then showed a videotape of an incredibly sexist and offensive Megyn Kelly, accusing Harris of “talking his way into politics.” Ben Shapiro added, in another clip: “She got her original posts in California because she slept with Willie Brown.”

Of course, Stewart noted that as nasty as those two were, the right-wing pundits are just getting started. Somewhat strangely added to Fox Business: “Kamala Harris. She’s the original ‘Hawk Tua’ girl.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Stewart joked. “That’s the kind of substantive and lofty position from a man who looks like he’s one Mike’s Hard Lemonade away from getting into a fight at his sister’s wedding.”

Meanwhile, when the right wing tries to talk about Harris’ record, Stewart notes that they can’t decide whether as California’s attorney general she was soft on crime, or too tough on criminals.

Quipped Stewart: “She’s too soft on crime! Is she too tough on crime? Folks, we’re opening in three months! You’re waving! Dig deep!”

Then there are the talking heads who are so desperate to say something negative about Harris that they accuse her of being… unpopular with her staff.

“Your candidate is Donald Trump. His catchphrase is literally ‘you’re fired!’” Stewart said. ‘He is the Anna Wintour of authoritarian wannabes. Donald Trump has hired 44 cabinet members. 75% of them want nothing to do with the man. His foreign minister called him a damn idiot. His chief of staff said he is the most flawed person I have ever met. Do you know why he needs a new vice presidential running mate? He tried to have the last one killed!’

They “wave,” he noted. Even Trump is seen describing his attempts at new nicknames for Harris: “Laffin’ Kamala Harris. That’s LAFFIN with an apostrophe. Laffin’.”

And that’s why Stewart noted: They’re going back to the classic one-two punch of racism and sexism. “You know what, I hate to say it, guys, but you tried. You did your best. I think you should go back to your classics. It has worked for you in the past. It’s your comfort zone. I think you should play the hits.”

From there, he played a series of clips from Fox News and Newsmax, among others, in which pundits called Harris a “DEI” and “token hire.” One sleaze barked that “this woman, this disaster, whose only qualification was having a vagina and the right skin color.”

Ultimately, several talking heads are confused about Harris’ multiracial legacy.

“If these people ever saw a Pizza Hut-slash-Taco Bell, they would go crazy,” Stewart said. “’What is this, a DEI restaurant?’”

Stewart then threw to “Daily Show” senior political correspondent Josh Johnson, who noted that the winning attack would likely just scream, “SHE’S BLACK!!”

“Sorry for yelling, that’s what I was told,” he said. “They have all kinds of attacks ready. I see ‘Black’, ‘Black’, ‘Black woman.’ I have this one: “American African,” which sounds scary when you turn it around like that.

“They looked at me when they said this: ‘like you, but lady.’ I also have some ‘Black’, ‘Blackity Black’, urban, cracks.’ At least they know. Oh, I can’t even say this one. ‘From Kenya.’ I think there’s one left over from the last time someone was, you know, Black.”

As for Republicans upset about the change in candidates, Stewart has an idea: “What if we do this out of fairness? I am an honest person. You can also replace your old man. Even Steven.”

Look here:

Also in the episode: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg “talks to Jon Stewart about why he’s going on Fox News, the significance of President Joe Biden stepping aside to make room for Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee, the possibility of being vetted for vice president, and his thoughts on Trump’s own VP pick, J.D. Vance.”