Jon Stewart is clearly no fan of Donald Trump, who he dubbed a “megalomaniac.”
But that doesn’t mean he’s all in for Joe Biden.
The host of “The Daily Show” riffed Monday night about the possibility of an 11th-hour effort to oust the incumbent president as the party’s nominee at the Democratic National Convention next month.
“I am in no way saying Biden’s got to drop out. But can’t we stress test this candidacy? Can’t we open up the conversation? Do you understand the opportunity here? Do you have any idea how thirsty Americans are for any hint of inspiration or leadership and a release from this choice of a megalomaniac and a suffocating gerontocracy? It is crushing our f---- spirits. Do you have any idea what could be ahead of you? All we want is for someone to keep it 100 — the percentage, not the age. That’s all we want,” Stewart said.
He went on:
“Here’s an idea. I’ll spitball it. It’s last minute. But why don’t we try and get all the Democrats together in, I don’t know, six weeks’ time. We could get everybody to fly into some Midwestern town, maybe, like one adjacent to important swing states, let’s call it Chicago.
“And they could spend, I don’t know, four days there, because nobody works Fridays anymore, and on Monday, anybody who wants to gives their sales pitch of how they can make democracy more responsive to the people it is supposed to serve. You could bang it out on Tuesday, the winner could move on to the next round and then face Biden.
“They could face Biden. …
“Thursday, the party emerges — energized, unified, sanctified.
“You could televise the entire proceeding for four days. You could call it, I don’t know, ‘The Apprentice.’ I’m just workshopping here.
“So feel free to ignore any obvious weaknesses in your team’s existential fight for freedom and democracy, and then just white-knuckle this thing till November, or take the advice of your own candidate.”
Those fretting over Biden as the Democratic nominee have some alternative, albeit unlikely, scenarios to consider: One involves Biden stepping aside voluntarily, the other, and by far the least likely, involves an effort to defeat him at the convention by winning over pledged delegates he has won in the nominations contests, who are technically obligated to support him only by “good conscience” in the party’s rules.
Challenges to the presumptive nominee can occur, but there are significant hurdles. The path to picking a new standard-bearer would be clearer if Biden were to step aside voluntarily, which he’s given no indication that he’s considering.
The 2024 convention rules don’t directly address what happens if the candidate with the most pledged delegates drops out before the convention. However, there’s a general understanding that if a candidate drops out, the delegates pledged to that candidate are free to support another candidate of their choice.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stories by Matt Arco
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.