Jon Stewart returned to internet hosting The Each day Present on Monday evening, and he instantly dove into the doable “October surprises” that would nonetheless impression the ultimate weeks of the presidential election marketing campaign.

Stewart started the phase by briefly wanting over previous October surprises, together with the notorious Entry Hollywood tape, in addition to the media working by means of a choice of latest pure disasters and wars that may turn out to be the dreaded black swan occasion within the waning days of the marketing campaign.

“Why are October surprises at all times so shitty? Why can we by no means get October shock that brings our nation collectively?” Stewart joked, including that he hoped that web stars Pesto, absolutely the unit of a child penguin, and Moo Deng, the impish child pygmy hippo, might begin courting.

Stewart that expanded the purpose about October surprises, by suggesting that they invariably favor Republicans, who capitalize on loss of life and distress to attain election factors. “If monkeypox runs amok, I don’t see how we lose!” Stewart mentioned mockingly. “What does it truly say a few celebration {that a} battle, a strike, and a pure catastrophe work of their favor? Sir, the election’s shut, but when we may simply get the inhabitants shell-shocked and determined, we are able to do it.”

Turning his consideration to latest occasions, Stewart mentioned an October shock for him was seeing Elon Musk, uncovered stomach and all, at Donald Trump‘s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “[Musk’s] October shock is he’s come out MAGA.”

“Now, you may suppose one of many world’s richest males controlling one of many world’s most influential platforms could possibly be a recipe for what some might take into account election interference,” Stewart mentioned, earlier than joking to the viewers, “You silly, silly individuals.”

Stewart referred to as again to the 2016 and 2020 election, when Trump vociferously accused Fb founder Mark Zuckerberg of election interference and identified the brazen double normal now that Musk, the proprietor of the embattled X platform, has come out in assist for the previous president. The phase dived deeper into Trump’s repeated threats to punish and imprison individuals who he felt had been interfering within the election towards him, together with the workforce behind the biopic The Apprentice.

“Trump has threatened virtually all of them with both imprisonment, lawsuits, or censoring, which is why this one part of this weekend’s rally in Pennsylvania was so putting, when Elon Musk was discussing why he helps Donald Trump,” Stewart mentioned, coming to the principle thrust of the phase.

A clip of Musk’s speech from the Trump rally was then performed: “The opposite aspect needs to remove your freedom of speech. You should have free speech with a view to have democracy. That’s why it’s the First Modification.”

Stewart shot again: “Elon, had been you not watching the remainder of the present? A film Trump doesn’t like goes to get sued. A tech mogul he doesn’t like, he needs to place in jail. It’s not free speech if solely Trump’s admirers get to do it with out consequence. That’s simply not the way it works. It doesn’t go that approach. I don’t see how his assist of free speech is “expose the stomach” worthy. I simply don’t.”

One other clip of Musk’s speech was then performed: “However a minimum of the Structure stays intact and is there to make sure that we’ve the First Modification. The Second Modification is there to make sure that we’ve the First Modification.”

A clearly riled Stewart went for the jugular: Weapons don’t defend our free speech. Our free speech is protected by the consent of the ruled, laid out by means of the Structure. It’s not based mostly on the specter of violence. It’s based mostly on elections, organizing referendums, a judicial system. Our social contract affords many, many avenues to treatment these points and permits sides to be heard and adjudicated. Weapons, from what I can inform, appear to principally defend the speech of the individuals holding the gun. It’s a device of intimidation…”

Met with rapturous applause, Stewart hushed the viewers as he wasn’t carried out.

“It’s a device of intimidation and one which I feel is definitely being irresponsibly and recklessly invoked. As a result of some individuals in your crowd thought they may have been shadow-banned by Fb. I imply, for God’s sakes, you guys are in Butler, Pennsylvania. The entire motive you’re there’s as a result of some fucking asshole with an AR-15 tried to completely litigate his imaginative and prescient of this nation’s free speech,” Stewart mentioned, referring to the July 13 assassination try on Trump. “That’s why you’re there. The entire level of a society is weapons don’t determine it. I would like at this second to not commerce in a authorities that gives me many treatments for my issues, reliable or illegitimate, for a scenario the place my rights are decided by what number of militia members agree with me.”

Softening his voice, Stewart concluded by addressing Musk straight. “The nation ain’t good, and there’s quite a lot of points we don’t agree on: selection, immigration, shrinkflation of snack chips, the unholy marriage of penguins and hippos. However, truthfully, dude, a rustic that may adjudicate these difficult points by means of a generally irritating, overly bureaucratic constitutional system of checks and balances and peaceable switch of energy is the one type of nation that I need the kids of Pesto and Moo Deng to develop up in.”