Jon Stewart on Harris presiding over election certification: ‘Like attending your own funeral’

Late-night hosts talk the fourth anniversary of the 6 January insurrection and an uneventful transfer of power in Washington.

Jon Stewart

“What a historic day in Washington DC,” said Jon Stewart, returning to the Daily Show on 6 January 2025. “Once again, a blanket of angry white is descending on the Capitol,” he added over a picture of the Capitol covered in snow. “This white, oddly enough, not as disruptive. It did snarl traffic, but a lot less bear spray and Confederate flags.”

The host acknowledged the date, a day “that traditionally we now pretend that we knew was a big deal, in terms of certifying the elections”, Stewart laughed. “Be honest – before that insurrection, you had no fucking idea that was there.”

Congress did certify Donald Trump’s victory on Monday. The “ultimate indignity” of the affair was that as the vice-president, Trump’s opponent in the election, Kamala Harris, served as the “master of ceremonies”.

“That’s got to sting,” said Stewart. “It’s like attending your own funeral, and even the mourners are like, ‘Woo-hoo!’ I can’t imagine anything that would be more uncomfortable than standing there while the crowd applauds your opponent.”

There were, at least, also loud cheers for when she announced her (losing) total of votes.

“Wait! That sounded louder,” Stewart joked. “There is a lot of joy in that room. I think she can still win this thing! She just needs them to find 130,000 votes in Georgia! And then some in Michigan, Pennsylvania and maybe Wisconsin.”

Ultimately, “the certification ceremony that we all look forward to every four years, since I was little, went off without a hitch,” he concluded. “Because it’s amazing how smoothly our democracy works when you don’t act like a little bitch when you lose.”

Stephen Colbert

“It’s good to be back,” said Stephen Colbert on Monday’s Late Show. It was 6 January, and Congress had just certified Donald Trump’s electoral victory. “Yes, I used to feel things, too,” said Colbert as the crowd booed.

“And the striking thing about this time was how normal it was again,” he continued. “There was no riot. No one broke a window with their beard.”

“I’m not sure what there is to say about January 6 at this point,” he added. “We all saw what happened. Trump lost. He said he didn’t. A bunch of cowardly Republicans backed him up. They all whipped up a mob which stormed the Capitol and beat police with flag poles, trying to overturn our democracy. This launched the largest criminal investigation in our nation’s history. Nearly 1,600 of the rioters faced judicial inquiry, 1,000 of which have already been to trial or pleaded guilty. Out of all of them, two have been acquitted.”

In sum: “The results are in: it was bad.” Or as Trump put it in an interview: “It was a day of love.”

“Yes, love was in the air. Also, bear spray,” said Colbert. “And by reinstalling Donald Trump, we are stepping right through the Orwellian looking-glass. With Trump, hate is love, violence is peace, nugget is food.”

Jimmy Kimmel

And in Los Angeles, Jimmy Kimmel also acknowledged the anniversary of the insurrection. “It’s actually very convenient that Eric’s birthday is on January 6. That way Trump only has to remember the two biggest mistakes that he made on one day,” he joked.

“I can’t believe it’s been four years,” he added. “It seems like only yesterday Nancy Pelosi was hosing feces off her desk at the Capitol.” This time, at least, it “went off without Ted Cruz having to hide in a broom closet”.

Kimmel touched on the “masterstroke of irony” that was Harris presiding over the certification of Trump’s victory. “That is cruel and unusual. It’s like making your ex DJ your wedding to your new [fiance],” he joked.

“You notice how uneventful it was today?” he added. “The Democrats lost, and they accepted they lost.”