‘ENTITLED ARROGANCE’

Jon Stewart Breaks Down Why Trump’s Brazen Fraud Is No ‘Victimless’ Crime

“The Daily Show” host can’t understand how some people seem to think Trump’s civil fraud case was no big deal.

Like millions of Americans, Jon Stewart has spent the past week waiting with “breathless anticipation” to see whether Donald Trump would be able to wiggle his way out of handing over the $454 million he owes as part of a civil fraud judgment against him. And, lo and behold, the former president not only seems to have pulled it off—on Monday, he was even given more time to pay less than half of the originally requested amount.

Trump says he will be successful at finding a way to satisfy the debt without having Trump Tower or any other property seized, which meant that Stewart had to cancel the celebration he had planned for this evening. Instead, he found time to take issue with the various pro-MAGA networks and supporters who have been pushing the narrative that Trump’s shenanigans are a “victimless crime.”

Fox News host Sean Hannity and Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary are just two of the people turning Trump’s court case into a scare tactic, with O’Leary noting that Trump’s legal mishaps have been particularly concerned within “the investment community, because we’re all asking each other: Who’s next?”

The Daily Show host was admittedly surprised to hear that comment coming from O’Leary—“a guy who’s such an asshole that even the other people on Shark Tank thinks he’s an asshole,” he said. And it’s because of O’Leary’s angry reaction to products being overvalued on Shark Tank that Stewart is confused by O’Leary’s reaction to Trump’s legal woes.

“How is he not this mad about overvaluations in the real world?!” Stewart demanded to know. “Because they are not victimless crimes.” To further explain his point, Stewart noted that “money isn’t infinite. A loan that goes to the liar doesn’t go to someone who’s giving a more honest evaluation. So the system becomes incentivized for corruption.”

But O’Leary has contended in the past that things like falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, and insurance fraud are “done by every real estate developer everywhere on Earth in every city,” in his support of the former president. And all of this sounded somehow familiar to Stewart, who finally asked: “You’re familiar with The Purge, are you not?”

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Jennifer M. Wood

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