Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America is ‘Just’ a Comedian

Jon Stewart is an entertaining and trustworthy source of political, social and cultural commentary. Every night he’s smart and funny without playing games or focusing on creating short clippable segments, and he has something to say that people want to hear. Everyone knows this, except maybe for Jon. He still thinks he’s just a comedian. But in reality, to so many American’s he’s become a trustworthy source of political, social and cultural commentary every week night. He’s someone who says what he thinks, with comedy and without bullshit.

Here’s a quick and fun exercise. Google the words “Jon Stewart” and “respected”. It won’t take very long, but you will learn quite a lot. Because aside from your eyes glazing over from all of the articles about Stewart’s swan song this Thursday as host and producer of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, you will be able to piece together a picture. It will be a snapshot of a charming wiseass who many Americans trust to tell them the truth about the world’s events. What’s interesting, though, is how different this picture is than the one Stewart sees when he looks in the mirror. That picture is probably more like the one you would have seen had you Googled those same words in 1990.

Back then, if Googling was a “thing” yet, you would have gathered a picture of a young stand-up comic beginning his first hosting gig, showing clips of other comedians and films on Short Attention Span Theater on The Comedy Channel (one half of the companies that would merge to become Comedy Central a few years later.) Stewart already had the elements that would serve him well throughout his career. His intelligent humor, aforementioned charm, and a likeable cheekiness, all of which allow him to say almost anything without having everyone want to punch him in the face. Stewart has always evoked feelings reminiscent of the mischievous dog who tore up the couch while you were out, but whom you can’t stay mad at because he’s just too damn fun and adorable.

It’s a quality that helped him get through all of his celebrity interviews when he hosted The Jon Stewart Show, first on MTV and then in syndication. His acerbic wit was always served with a side helping of appealing winks and nods, and the audience felt like they were in on the joke with him. Stewart found a way to tell the truth and still be liked by his guests and the audience. Even though that starlet was being told her new movie was awful, she was never made to feel badly about it. The seeds of the future were planted then. As he was giving friendly jabs to celebrities, the audience knew that Stewart wouldn’t lie to them just to sell tickets. People automatically liked and trusted this comedian with a sharp tongue but thoughtful demeanor.

By the time he took over The Daily Show in 1999, Stewart had a reputation as a smart, funny and well-liked comedian. The first few years of the show demonstrated how deft he was with political humor, easily able to tread the tone of being truthful and opinionated without being preachy. But he was still a comedian. Just one who focused on current events. Slowly, and without fanfare, he became the person college kids watched to not only find out what was happening in the world, but how to feel about it.

Well thought-of as a host, Stewart was talked about as being the new face for some late-night slots, like replacing Tom Snyder or to follow Nightline. But the big turning point, where Stewart went from being a smart-ass with a fake news show to being a smart-ass with a fake news show whose opinions and views made sense and were trusted by many, was in 2004, when he appeared on CNN’s Crossfire. Stewart went head to head with host Tucker Carlson, calling him out on Crossfire being nothing more than a version of pro wrestling and not the honest political debate show it purported to be. His arguments and examples were solid and his tone was one of exasperation, which so many viewers felt. When Carlson tried to take Stewart to task for the Daily Show not always being accurate, Jon correctly pointed out that his show aired on Comedy Central, and that Crossfire was on CNN, so should be held to a higher standard.

There was a palpable shift in the way Stewart was perceived after this appearance, which went viral. A few months later, Crossfire was canceled by CNN, and it was seen as in no small part due to Jon’s appearance. He spoke the truth, he said what people were thinking, and he did it in a way everyone related to and enjoyed. With humor.

Although Stewart continued to maintain that he was a comedian and not a newscaster, people began to see him differently. They respected him. They trusted him to tell them what was really happening, in a way they could understand it; without pretension, and without making the audience feel that they were too dumb to have opinions on important topics. A 2008 article in the New York Times sought to answer the question, “Is Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America?” And while he continued to defer to the fact that his show aired on a channel with the word “comedy” in it, and that he was only a comedian, viewers and his monologues begged to differ. When a situation arose that he felt strongly about, such as a mass shooting, Stewart would speak about his sadness for the country. He regularly hosted politicians, including President Obama, and would ask them the hard questions that “real” journalists shied away from. He questioned the integrity, fairness and reporting skills of networks like Fox News and CNBC, and always with clips to back up his statements.

Still and always, Stewart would say he himself was not a journalist even though he occasionally won awards for journalism. Although most of the world has come to see Jon Stewart as the person they respect most with the handling of their news, even if they don’t always agree with him, unfortunately that feeling has not trickled down to Jon himself. It was revealed last year that Stewart was courted to host Meet the Press, one of the most respected news and political dialogue shows in the country. Stewart declined, of course.

And now, Jon’s vision of himself as a comedian and not a journalist is is going to be a reality. He’s saying goodbye to explaining the world to us each night on The Daily Show and going back to stand-up. Those of us who were hoping for a last-minute reprieve realized it wasn’t happening last week when he performed a surprise set at The Comedy Cellar, alongside Louis CK. Jon has already started his new old life, choosing to be the comedian he’s never stopped seeing himself as. But whatever he is– comedian or respected voice or both, Jon Stewart changed the game, changed comedy and changed journalism, even if he hasn’t taken that in himself.

Read more comedy news, stories, interviews with comedians, videos and comedy clips on our home page. Get more comedy news. Watch more viral videos. Read more interviews with the best comics in the business.

.