Lori Falce: Jon Stewart, bothsidesism and asking not-so-tough questions

Last week, comedian Jon Stewart returned to his chair at “The Daily Show.” He will occupy it again one night a week leading up to the November elections.

It’s a move that was championed by fans and by many on the left. Stewart has long enjoyed skewering conservatives, and Trevor Noah left his gig helming the show in December 2022. For more than a year, the desk has been occupied by a rotating stable of guest hosts.

But in the nine years since Stewart left “The Daily Show,” people apparently forgot that he didn’t just save his barbs for Republicans.

The first night back was not 30 minutes of all the one-liners about Donald Trump the comedian had stored up since departing Comedy Central. It was a question about how we got to the point where the most likely candidates for the 2024 election are both old enough to not only retire but be aged out of a lot of other responsible jobs.

It was delivered with Stewart’s patented pith, and it was received poorly by some. Much of the grumbling came from those on the left who seemed shocked that a comedian who built his career by poking those in power with a sharp stick did just that.

I feel for you, Jon.

On the same day Stewart made his return, I ran an editorial cartoon that apparently contained groundbreaking news.

“Here’s the latest news about President Biden,” the Cagle Cartoons piece read. “He’s OLD!”

The joke was not so much making fun of Biden but mocking the utter shock of it. That did not, however, keep me from getting calls about it. How dare I belittle the 81-year-old president when Trump is just four years younger?

Stewart took on the responses to his critics on his second show. It wasn’t, he said, an example of “bothsidesism.” (That’s the idea of comparing an egregious act on one side to an act on the other that isn’t as bad but acting like it is.) It was a question of how we got to the point where both candidates are this old.

I’ll ask another. How have we gotten to the point where posing a very obvious question that should give us all pause about where we are headed has become this charged?

Trump’s camp often brings up Biden’s age. Biden supporters counter with questions about Trump’s mental fitness while rather pointedly avoiding age, given the president’s seniority. It is no secret that many people the age of either are shopping for retirement communities rather than contemplating meetings in the White House situation room.

Asking the question isn’t a condemnation. But if Stewart had avoided the issue, it might have shown he wasn’t on top of his game and was maybe a little too old to take on the responsibility of the job.

Oh, the irony.