Jon Stewart skewered Donald Trump after the president was exposed for using a catering truck to escape a potential assassination threat.
The 80-year-old was revealed by The Washington Post to have used an airport catering container to switch to a different aircraft in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, after a NATO summit.
Trump had initially raised eyebrows when he was photographed boarding an older version of Air Force One instead of his new, Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8 jet.
But it turns out there was another ruse altogether, as the Post reported. After credible intelligence of an Iranian assassination threat against the president, Trump was whisked away to secretly fly on “an alternate military aircraft” with the help of a catering truck that is used to load meals and supplies onto planes.
On The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart, the host mocked the “Clouseau”-like nature of the operation.
Stewart, 63, laughed at both Trump and his great escape.
“Here’s the question,” said the host and Trump nemesis. “Did he have to put on the cater waiter outfit?”
However, Stewart noted that the situation is not entirely unprecedented, citing Kaitlan Collins’ reporting that previous presidents have “had to change plans based on a certain threat.”
But, he quipped, “It wasn’t until afterward that it was explained to the people who remained on the targeted conveyance, ‘Hey, by the way, now that we’re here safely, there were a lot of lasers being pointed...’”
“It’s very Clouseau,” Stewart joked, referring to the hapless Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther movies.
The elaborate plot was covered up by the White House, with the president and the administration telling reporters that Trump switched to his older version of Air Force One for “old time’s sake.” He was seen boarding this aircraft. But unbeknownst to the public until this week, the president was snuck out from the side of the plane, as The New York Times reports. He was then taken via the container to a third plane.
The president continued to switch planes throughout his journey, ultimately disembarking in Washington from the plane donated by Qatar.
Trump has confirmed these reports, telling reporters that he followed guidance from the Secret Service and military. “I just have to do what they say,” he said.
Asked about the threat from Iran, he responded, “Any consequential presidents have a lot of threats.”
“Non-consequential presidents don’t get threatened. And I think that I may be the most consequential president.”
