TV

Jon Stewart’s Being Petitioned To Moderate A Presidential Debate; Will Never, Ever Get A Holiday

With 120,000 signatures and counting, he'll never be free from our greedy, desperate embrace.

by Meg Watson  21 August 2015

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For the better part of the past two decades Jon Stewart has sat behind the desk at The Daily Show, tirelessly covering the daily grind of news and politics in new and interesting ways for us. Here, he was not only a champion of political satire, but an informed and valued voice in public debate. Outside of this, he tirelessly forged concurrent careers in stand-up, writing, and filmmaking.

Two weeks ago he stepped down from his iconic hosting gig. He cried. Stephen Colbert cried. We all cried. It was an emotional goodbye — and also, apparently, an enormous sham. A petition asking him to moderate one of the 2016 Presidential Debates has now attracted more than 120,000 supporters and it’s clear Jon Stewart will never, ever, ever be free of our desperate, greedy embrace.

“I’ll just check my email before I head on holida…..AAAHH NO.”

Though it started just a couple of days after Stewart left The Daily Show, support for the petition has shot up by 1,200 percent in the past 24 hours alone, and this morning Change.org acknowledged it as the fastest growing campaign on the site.

“Jon Stewart is more than qualified to tackle the moderating job,” it reads. “Mr Stewart has interviewed 15 heads of state, 22 members of the United States Cabinet, 32 members of the United States Senate, 7 members of the United States House of Representatives, and scores of other political leaders from this country and around the world while establishing himself as the most trusted person in (satirical) news.”

The organisers claim that this combined with his Peabody Awards for coverage of Presidential campaigns and tested trust amongst voters prove him suitable for the role, and remain optimistic about their chances. In 2012, three high school students petitioned the Commission on Presidential Debates to appoint a female moderator and were successful after 180,000 signatures; and, if that’s the benchmark, they’ll likely have him on board within an hour.

Guess this is how it goes. You agree to host one little WWE Summerslam and the Governor of Maryland immediately floods you with invites to his (way less fun) party.

Run free, Jon. Run free.