Jon Stewart Pushes Veterans Health Bill on Newsmax, Calls GOP Senators Who Killed it ‘Hypocrites’ For Not Supporting Troops
Comedian Jon Stewart pulled no punches on Thursday in criticizing Republican senators who blocked a veteran’s health bill in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday night.
Every Democrat and eight Republicans voted for the Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act, which still fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate threshold to break the filibuster.
Stewart railed against the Republican senators on Thursday in expletive-filled remarks on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. “Ain’t this a bitch? America’s heroes, who fought in our wars, outside sweating their asses off, while these motherf**kers sit in the air conditioning, walled off from any of it,” Stewart raged.
He later took his campaign for the bill to right-wing Newsmax, where he was given a relatively warm reception.
“So the Republicans, when you say what you said, they do not support veterans. The Republicans push back saying there is unrelated spending within this,” asked Newsmax anchor Shaun Kraisman.
“It’s not, it’s just not true,” responded Stewart.
“What they’re saying is they don’t like that it’s mandatory as opposed to discretionary. There is no unrelated spending to it. They’re saying there could be if there wasn’t oversight. But that’s what the Senate’s job is,” Stewart continued, adding:
The bill itself is incredibly detailed and prescriptive about what it’s for. It’s about treating and preventing the different conditions that veterans are coming home with, including cancers and chronic bronchiolitis, and all these other issues from their exposures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And to push back on what they’re saying, they’re saying, what if this creates a slush fund? Right. So are you familiar with something called the OCO, the Overseas Contingency Operations Fund? So every year, 50 billion, 60 billion, $70 billion is added to what’s called the OCO on top of the 600 billion, 700 billion, 800 billion that goes to the Defense Department. That OCO fund is actually a slush fund, 60 to $70 billion every year. No oversight, no guardrails.
“And every one of those Republicans that voted against health care for veterans voted for the slush fund for the war. They don’t support the troops. They support the war machine. And that’s got to stop,” Stewart continued.
“The value in the U.S. military isn’t in the toys. It’s not in the hardware. It’s not in the tanks. It’s in the men and women. And until they start supporting them in the manner that they purport to online. Yeah. They are hypocrites,” Stewart concluded.
Watch the full clip above
