Jon Stewart devoted 10 minutes of “The Daily Show” Monday night to the mythology of so-called liberal cancel culture. After Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker received well-deserved criticism for giving a bigoted and misogynist commencement speech at a conservative Catholic college, right-wing media types went into a tizzy, claiming Butker was being “canceled.”
“Nothing about the right-wing reaction is surprising, because the idea that there is an all-pervasive, all-powerful threat to free speech called ‘cancel culture’ has become a central tenet of modern conservatism,” Stewart explained. “They celebrate their being silenced at conferences. They celebrate their being silenced on podcasts and streaming outlets. They celebrate their being silenced with over 700 book titles about being ‘canceled.’”
Stewart showed clips of Fox News’ Sean Hannity lamenting the outrage of those on the left, and even claiming that he, Sean Hannity, “doesn’t get outraged” when he doesn’t agree with someone else.
“They’re so full of shit that Sean Hannity can say with a square head, ‘I’m not the kind of guy who gets outraged.’” Stewart exclaimed. “Sean Hannity! He’s basically just a meat-bag support system for a forehead vein.”
“But contrary to conservatives’ victimization complex, there is no organized cancel culture conspiracy where even the slightest misstep can 100% get someone on the right ‘canceled,’” Steward said. “But actually, there is—oh, there is one.”
Stewart then played a news clip reporting on former Rep. Liz Cheney being kicked out of the Wyoming Republican Party for opposing Donald Trump and his part in the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
“Yeah, as irony would have it, it turns out that when it comes to ‘cancel culture,’ the ones who smelt it, dealt it,” Stewart said.
Stewart then played clips of GOP stalwarts like Sen. Mitt Romney and short-lived presidential candidate Will Hurd being booed for daring to criticize Trump in front of fellow Republicans.
“Yes, the woke mob shouts you down. And what happens when you’re a Republican and dare criticize the boy king?” Stewart asked.
As for the claims by right-wing pundits that “cancel culture” forces people to “stay silent,” Stewart recalled last year’s scandal that exposed right-wing favorite Tucker Carlson and his private messages skewering Trump.
Cancel culture. You can only speak your truth in private while denying them in public. For instance, this poor young fella [Tucker] who privately wrote of Trump, “He’s a demonic force, a destroyer … I hate him passionately.” He wrote in private, but of course, in public, fearing the cancel mob, he’s forced to stand next to his tormentor with what can only be described as the fakest of over-laugh faces.
Stewart continued:
The truth is, Trump is the real “cancel culture”—emphasis on cult. Because on the right you can say whatever the fuck you want about gay people and trans people, from TikTok to Patreon. You can decry DEI, from podcasts to, I don’t know, the governor’s office of Florida. And chances are, not only will you be fine, you’ll get a raise. But if you ever dare speak out one iota against Donald Trump, be, yes, afraid.
Stewart’s segment on cancel culture begins at around the 4:50 mark.
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