He concluded the segment with a fake commercial: “Buy Jake Tapper’s book today! Now with 20% more spin!” The mock ad showed Tapper typing while Biden pats him on the head.
Twitter exploded immediately after the episode aired, with many praising Stewart’s brutal honesty. “Jon Stewart just did what CNN won’t — he held their golden boy accountable,” one tweet read.
Critics of CNN shared clips of the segment, using it to underscore claims of media bias. Even some liberal viewers admitted Stewart’s takedown was “hilariously uncomfortable.”
Tapper responded the next day, tweeting a vague defense about “context and complexity.” Stewart replied simply with a gif of someone laughing and closing a book titled How to Take Criticism.
Media outlets scrambled to cover the fallout, and Stewart trended for 24 hours across all major platforms. BuzzFeed called it “a surgical roast with a Pulitzer punchline.”
Cable news commentators debated whether Stewart had crossed a line. But fans argued that satire has always been his sharpest tool against media hypocrisy.
