Jon Stewart managed to sum up Donald Trump’s presidency with a single image, one that captures the extent of his failures.
The photograph, a still from the Great American State Fair, features a replica of the “Triumphal Arch.” Trump, 80, installed the mock-up of his planned arch at the expo, a 16-day event marking America’s 250th birthday.
But, like the fair itself, the mini arch didn’t exactly live up to expectations.
On Monday night’s Daily Show, Stewart unpacked the president’s latest blunder, playing footage of news anchors reporting on every humiliation from the state fair. “Struggling to draw crowds,” a reporter announced. “The power went out in the food hall at one point, and also on the Ferris wheel,” another declared.
“First responders treated people for heat-related illnesses. Others huddled under a replica of President Trump’s triumphal arch for shade,” came one report.
Stewart then panned to an image of the miniature arch, under which fair-goers at the otherwise sparsely attended event huddled due to ill-timed weather conditions.
“Is there a better image that represents the rise of Trump’s meritocracy than the MAGA faithful huddling under a plywood replica of a memorial Trump is going to erect to himself using money that should have gone to the weather service that would have warned these people about the heat wave they were seeking refuge from?” Stewart asked, getting cheers from his audience.
“Oh, Lordy. Oh, Lord,” he continued. “Oh, great Donald Trump, bring me your heat-stroked, your bored, your huddled masses yearning to rehydrate, for this is Trump’s America.”
“We were told over and over again that the problem in this country is that government exists only for the benefit of the entitled, DEI-mooching class,” continued the late-night host. “But the reality seems to be that their version of meritocracy rewards only legacy, fealty, and access, leaving the rest of us with the real DEI: Diarrhea Everywhere Indefinitely.”
