Jon Stewart Mocks Fox News Response to Eclipse

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Jon Stewart poked fun at Fox News's coverage of Monday's solar eclipse, asking "is there nothing Fox can't tie to immigration?"

Millions gathered across the U.S. to watch the spectacle, flooding the 13 states in the eclipse's "path of totality"—where the moon completely blocked out the sun. With the route beginning in Mexico and ending in Texas, some areas were blacked out for up to four minutes.

Jon Stewart, 2016. Inset: Solar Eclipse, 2024
Main image: Jon Stewart performs on stage as The New York Comedy Festival on November 1, 2016 in New York City. Inset: The moon covers the sun just before the total solar eclipse on April... Kevin Mazur/Stringer/Agencia Press South/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images News

Emergency warnings were broadcast in some locations due to the expected influx of visitors, along with messages on how to safely view the eclipse.

Stewart opened Monday's episode of The Daily Show by joking about the recent eclipse mania.

"The big news today, the world ended," he quipped. "I think. Are we even, are we still on?"

"The sun and the moon did the thing that everyone has been saying they were going to do for centuries now. The path got totality and now both planets...will go back to years of ignoring each other."

"But not everyone was happy about today's celestial seasonings," Stewart quipped, before cutting to Fox News coverage of the eclipse.

"A rare celestial event collides with a policy failure on the ground," host and former White House secretary Dana Perino said in the clip.

"The southern border will be directly in the path of totality today when the moon covers the sun for nearly four minutes."

Her co-host Bill Hemmer added: "We are told that officials are bracing for higher traffic than usual, and that means a real opportunity for smugglers and cartels and migrants to come right in."

In response to the footage, Stewart joked: "Or they could just wait until nighttime."

"I've got to say though, is there nothing Fox can't tie to immigration?" he continued. "Of course, if you combine the dangers of today's eclipse with Friday's seismic activity in the Northeast, well, the more troubling picture emerges."

Stewart then moved on to mocking Republican politician Marjorie Taylor Greene, sharing CNN coverage of her recent viral post about the earthquake in New Jersey on Friday morning, with the Georgia representative suggesting the event, along with the recent eclipse, is a sign from God to repent.

Registering at a magnitude of 4.8, the earthquake was felt in New York state, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maine.

"God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent," Greene wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens."

Feigning confusion, Stewart asked: "How do you know? How would you that that is what God meant?"

"Why would God be so obtuse?" he wondered. "Is this s*** really how God works?"

Portraying the deity, Stewart put on a deep voice and said: "I must let man know to repent their wickedness.

"Dim the lights for like four minutes. Give New Jersey a little shake maybe. Just a little noogie."

Newsweek has reached out to Jon Stewart and Marjorie Taylor Greene for comment via email.

About the writer

Sophie is a Newsweek Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in Lincoln, UK. Her focus is reporting on film and TV, trending news and the entertainment industry. She has covered pop culture, women's rights and the arts extensively. Sophie joined Newsweek in 2022 from Social Change UK, and has previously written for The Untitled Magazine, The Mary Sue, Ms. Magazine and Screen Rant. She graduated with a BA Honours in Fine Art from Birmingham City University and has an MA in Arts Journalism from the University of Lincoln. Languages: English.

You can get in touch with Sophie by emailing s.lloyd@newsweek.com.


Sophie is a Newsweek Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in Lincoln, UK. Her focus is reporting on film and ... Read more