With Jon Stewart’s final appearance on The Daily Show now just nine days away, the media is going to start wondering what we will do without his voice. Some in Washington will be wondering the same thing, especially now that it has been revealed that he made a couple of secret trips to the White House.
In a story on the lasting political impact Stewart has made in his 16 years hosting The Daily Show, Politico revealed that the comedian was called to the White House twice during two tense moments for the Obama administration. Both trips were never reported by the media or mentioned by Stewart.
The first visit came in October 2011 during the budget fight with Republicans in Congress. In February 2014, Obama asked to see Stewart again, just before Obama warned Russia that there would be a price to pay for its actions in the Ukraine.
Politico reports that the meetings were listed on White House visitor logs and three Obama aides also confirmed the meetings.
The news shows how much impact Stewart had on the politicians he skewered each night on TV.
“He’s a modern day Will Rogers and Mark Twain,” Sen. John McCain told Politico. McCain, who was often on the show, added that his comedy definitely “had an effect on the workings of government.”
There were several examples where Stewart actually had an impact on policy. One of the causes Stewart took on recently was the fight to clean up Veterans Affairs and to protect 9/11 first responders.
“What took us eight years of walking the halls of Congress, Jon Stewart in 22 minutes literally moved mountains and gave us a heartbeat again when we were flat lined,” John Feal, an Army veteran, told Politico.
Obama occasionally came to New York to visit Stewart. The president visited the show a seventh overall and final time last week.
image courtesy of Comedy Central