Jon Stewart Says Fox News ‘Refused’ Him Airtime During Media Blitz For Veterans; Fox Responds
Jon Stewart told MSNBC’s Medhi Hassan that Fox News refused to have him on-air after Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a bill expanding healthcare for military veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins. Update: it appears that Stewart will be appearing on Fox News Friday at 10:30 per a statement.
Stewart has been a fierce advocate of the issue and made the rounds on various networks Thursday, including CNBC, CNN, Newsmax, and finally, MSNBC, where he tore into Fox News for refusing him airtime to discuss the legislation.
During the CNN appearance, Stewart dropped several f-bombs railing against the obstructionist senators.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he plans to hold another vote on the bill on Monday.
“On Monday, Chuck Schumer says he’s gonna hold another vote on this bill,” MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan told Stewart. “Do you think it will pass on Monday, and if it doesn’t, will the Republican Party that claims to be the party of the flag, of the military, will suffer any political consequences for this outrageous vote?”
“Well, isn’t that the issue?” replied Stewart. “Look, you and I can talk about ’til we’re blue in the face. They’re never gonna hear this. There’s an information silo. I was lucky enough to be able to get a hold of the Newsmax this morning and go on there. Might’ve been the first time those viewers have ever heard about it.”
Stewart said he tried to get Fox News – the most watched cable news channel – to give him airtime to talk about the issue, but they refused:
Fox News, they’ve refused to put me on all day. We’ve been begging them to get on the air all day long so that we can finally bring along some possible accountability to these senators – by the way, most of whom voted for the bill, and then turned around and voted against it, even though there was no material change.
I’ve never seen anything like it. Nobody on the Hill has ever seen anything like it. And the truth is, the people who’ve suffered the most and had to fight the hardest are the ones who will once again bear the brunt of this this betrayal.
Stewart then lashed out at Republicans who claim the military is failing to reach recruitment goals because it’s gone “woke.”
“And you know they keep talking about, ‘Boy there’s a recruitment problem in the army because of the pronouns they’re using.’ It’s not the pronouns. It’s that young people see that this government doesn’t live up to its obligations to its fighters. It’s as simple as that.”
Update: The day after this post was published, Jon Stewart appeared on America’s Newsroom on Fox News.
Watch above via MSNBC.
