Jon Stewart isn’t going to let Donald Trump take back the terrible things he’s said about the Obama family over the years.
During Thursday’s episode of his podcast, “The Weekly Show,” Stewart praised former first lady Michelle Obama’s barn burner at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, noting how much ugliness she and her family faced during their time in the public eye, particularly from Trump.
“She was really wounded by the, if we’re being honest, disgusting treatment, which continues to this day, of the Obama family, and just the vile attacks like, not policy, not anything other than just vile, conspiratorial, personal disturbing,” Stewart said.
“And then you have Trump yesterday, ‘I’ve got a lot of respect for the Obamas.’ Bullshit!”
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Before the Obamas spoke on the second night of the DNC in Chicago, Trump tried to make it like he never harassed the political power couple, despite being one of the biggest promoters of the “birther” conspiracy theory, which claimed Barack Obama was lying about being born in the U.S., and a litany of other baseless attacks.
“I like him. I think he’s a nice gentleman, but he was very, very weak on trade,” former President Trump said Tuesday morning on CNN, adding, “But I happen to like him. I respect him, and I respect his wife.”
Stewart wasn’t buying Trump’s BS, however, telling his podcast guests, historian and author Jill Lepore and New York Times correspondent Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Him saying it doesn’t make it true.”
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“He was the leader of an absolute torrent and river of slime,” the late-night host added. “And I imagine for her, she thought, ‘We’ve given our pound of flesh to this endeavor, and I don’t want any part of that.’”
Though Trump tried to play nice with the Obamas before their speaking slots, afterward it seemed like the couple’s speeches really got under his skin.
During a rally on Wednesday in Asheboro, North Carolina, he complained about the former president and first lady “taking little shots” at him at the convention.
“They always say, sure, please stick to policy, don’t get personal. And yet they’re getting personal all night long, these people,” Trump told the crowd. “Do I still have to stick to policy?”