Jon Stewart DESTROYS Reporter After He Smears Joe Rogan
🎤 Jon Stewart Dismantles the “Platforming” Argument
The transcript details an exchange where Jon Stewart successfully pushes back against a loaded line of questioning from New Yorker editor David Remnick regarding Stewart’s appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The core of the argument revolves around the modern, censorious concept of “platforming” and who is morally “allowed” to provide a stage for controversial ideas.
Stewart’s key points, which successfully dismantled the interviewer’s critique, were:
Rogan’s Intent: Stewart argued that Joe Rogan is not a malicious, “weaponized commentator” whose sole purpose is to manipulate politics (like those tied to Project 2025). Instead, he described Rogan as a “curious comic who fell into this thing that got enormous.” Rogan is not a calculated operative.
The Interviewee Defense: When Remnick brought up Rogan interviewing “Nazi curious” people, Stewart countered with a powerful analogy: “So have I mean I’ve interviewed Kissinger like it’s and he was carpet bomb curious.” Stewart argues that interviewing someone, even one with abhorrent views, is not an endorsement.
The Responsibility to Counter: Stewart put the burden of truth on legacy media and critics, stating that critics “can’t just deputize people to say he should have known better.” It is the job of those who believe certain information is dangerous to “get out there… to counter what they think is misinformation.”
Do It Better: When Remnick complained that he and the New York Times don’t have Rogan’s audience, Stewart’s blunt response was: “Then get it. Find people who do then go on that show, then do those things.” He argues that complaining about a platform is lazy and unacceptable; critics need to “beat them at their own game.”
The Hypocrisy of The New Yorker
The criticism leveled by David Remnick—who has edited The New Yorker for over two decades—is framed by the transcript as hypocritical, given the magazine’s own history:
Iraq War Misinformation: The New Yorker ran a piece during the lead-up to the Iraq War that claimed possible ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, a claim that turned out to be false. Stewart himself has previously cited this history to highlight the lack of accountability for mainstream outlets that purveyed misinformation.
The Control Problem: The transcript notes that The New Yorker is owned by Condé Nast, which is under the media empire Advanced Magazine Publishers Incorporated. This conglomerate owns publications like Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ. Critics argue that these outlets don’t have an “audience problem” but a “control problem,” and that Rogan’s independence drives them “crazy” because they cannot control the message.
The point made by both Stewart and Rogan’s guest, Tucker Carlson, is that “platforming” is a manufactured issue. As Carlson stated, “Platform is not a verb,” and the focus on censoring conversations prevents people from realizing that most people have a lot more in common than they are led to believe by politically polarized media.
