Jon Stewart returned to The Daily Show Monday night for the first time since leaving the program four months ago.
The Daily Show with both Trevor Noah and Jon Stewart was “a monumental moment, ” as host Noah admitted
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Stewart did not come to entertain the audience. Stewart was there to show his support for the Zadroga Act.
He has joined the fight to get Congress to pass legislation that has technically expired, and would extend medical benefits for the approximately 33, 000 men and women who risked their lives at Ground Zero after the Twin Towers fell and now suffer from ailments including cancer, respiratory problems, and mental health conditions.
Stewart and activist groups hope to get the bill renewed before Congress goes out of session later this week in order to secure funds.
‘The only conclusions that I can draw is the people from Congress are not as good a people as the people who are first responders, ‘ said Stewart.
The most trenchant moment came when Stewart went to sit down with the four first responders he interviewed back in 2010 segment.
Three of the four chairs were empty, with two of the men too ill to appear on the show and the third having passed away.
“When we did the show five-and-a-half years ago, four men sat here. [Now] it’s just you and I, ” Kenny Specht, the founder of the New York City Firefighter Brotherhood Foundation, said to Stewart.
“What message does it send to our first responders if once we’re done as a nation with them helping us that we forget about them? That’s unacceptable, ” Stewart said.
He urged viewers to tweet Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan using the hashtags #EndTheF**kery and #WorstResponders to show their support for the bill.
