Jon Stewart defends Tony Hinchcliffe’s controversial Donald Trump rally joke

Jon Stewart is coming to the defense of comedian Tony Hinchcliffe after he made racist jokes about Puerto Rico at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in New York on Sunday.

Speaking about the Republican presidential nominee’s controversial Madison Square Garden rally during his opening monologue on Monday’s episode of The Daily Show, the host offered his two cents on the “roast comedian” who called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage” during his set.

“Now obviously in retrospect, having a roast comedian come to a political rally a week before election day and roasting a key voting demographic, probably not the best decision by the campaign politically,” said Stewart. “But to be fair, the guy is really just doing what he does.”

Stewart then shared demonstrative clips from Hinchcliffe’s roast of Tom Brady from the Netflix special, wherein the comedian said Jeff Ross is “so Jewish he only watches football for the coin toss” and Kevin Hart is “so small that when his ancestors picked cotton, they called it deadlifting.”

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“Yes, yes, of course. Terrible, boo, yes,” said Stewart of the roasts through stifled laughter. “There’s something wrong with me. I find that guy very funny. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and have him not do roast jokes? That’d be like bringing Beyoncé to a rally and not have— oh.”

The Beyoncé quip was in reference to an earlier joke from the monologue, where Stewart lamented the singer making an appearance at Democratic nominee and current VP Kamala Harris’ rally in Houston last week without performing any songs. Instead, she delivered an endorsement speech about the importance of getting to the polls. “Your vote is one of the most valuable tools, and we need you,” said Beyoncé, whose track “Freedom” has been used as Harris’ official campaign anthem.

As for the Hinchcliffe controversy, the Trump campaign has sought to distance itself from the comedian’s remarks about Puerto Rico and Latinos, which elicited mixed reactions from the rally crowd. Trump’s senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said the jokes “do not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign” in a statement.

Comedy Central announced last week that Stewart, who made a grand return to the show as a part-time host following the departure of Trevor Noah, will be hosting a live hour-long Daily Show special on election night on Nov. 5, providing analysis, interviews, and more as the results begin to trickle in. Stewart’s contract was also recently extended until the end of 2025, so he will continue as a once-a-week host and full-time executive producer.

Watch Stewart’s monologue about the Trump rally above.