Stewart Scorches CNN for Skipping Baltimore Protests in Favor of WHCD Red Carpet

CNN took a great deal of heat on Saturday evening for going all-out in its White House Correspondents’ Dinner coverage at the expense of ongoing protests in Baltimore. That general consensus of mockery continued Monday evening when Jon Stewart dedicated two full segments to lambasting the cable news network for its programming choices.

“Once again, Washington’s best and brightest stayed home as the rest of Washington got together to walk the red carpet and dish about the red carpet walk in their finest evening wear,” Stewart mocked the star-studded D.C. event. “But here is the problem: While the A-list of america’s media-political complex fiddled on this Saturday night…” this happened: The protests in Baltimore over the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray erupted into violent clashes between police and demonstrators.

Of course, CNN’s in-studio team covering the WHCD acknowledged the protests, with one panelist noting how “everyone is wining and dining and this is happening 50, 60 miles away,” and another saying how “important” the conversation was. Yet, within seconds, the CNN host said, “I do want to get to the red carpet.”

“It’s one thing to say, ‘Oh, that’s terrible. We should be doing that,’ and then go do it,” Stewart said. “But to say it’s terrible, we should do it, and not do it, it’s sort of like standing in the middle of the street going, ‘Oh, people are saying I shouldn’t be masturbating in the street, but, you know, my balls aren’t going to release themselves.”

Watch the CNN-roasting below, via Comedy Central, in two parts:

Part deux:

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