Jon Stewart rips Trump’s World Cup trophy-stage cameo
The Daily Show host mocked Donald Trump for joining Spain’s World Cup celebration and questioned his claims about the tournament.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Jon Stewart had one very blunt question after footage showed Donald Trump onstage as Spain lifted the World Cup trophy: why was he there?
On a new episode of The Daily Show, Stewart tore into Trump’s appearance during Spain’s post-match celebration after the team beat Argentina in Sunday night’s World Cup final. Rolling Stone reported that Trump had been booed earlier in the day before later appearing on the trophy platform with the winning side.
Stewart opened the segment by joking about the global spectacle, describing the Spain-Argentina match as a flipped version of the Super Bowl because the players spoke Spanish while the halftime entertainment was in English. He said the show featured Madonna, Justin Bieber and, unexpectedly, the Muppets.
The comedian then turned to Spain’s trophy moment, saying the team had been the standout side of the tournament and deserved its traditional celebration. Stewart said the trophy lift is usually reserved for the players, before the show cut to Trump standing on the stage with them.
“What the fuck are you doing on the stage?” Stewart said on the broadcast. “It’s for the players.” He went on to accuse Trump of dragging his “overinflated ego” into a moment meant for Spain’s team.
The segment also played Trump’s comments after the match. In the clip, Trump said the event was “four times greater than any FIFA ever held.”
Stewart seized on the wording, asking what Trump meant by “a FIFA” and how one would “hold” it. When the clip continued with Trump saying he had been told the tournament was probably “about five times” greater, Stewart fired back that people around Trump were flattering him because, in Stewart’s words, “everyone around you lies to you.”
World Cup jokes were only part of the monologue. Stewart also used the episode to hit Trump over several political subjects, including the war involving Iran, Trump’s ongoing focus on the 2020 election and what Stewart described as the administration’s promised “meritocracy.”
After referring to problems involving the FDA and the reflecting pool, Stewart said he was getting the sense that the administration was not as capable as its supporters had suggested. He then listed a series of claims about Trump’s record, saying Trump had promised to cut energy bills in half, bring gas below $2 a gallon, stop new wars and fuel a manufacturing boom.
According to Stewart, electricity was up 18 percent, gas was at $4 a gallon, Trump had bombed at least seven countries and tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs had been lost. Stewart framed those points as a contrast to Trump’s promise that qualified people would be running the country.
The show then aired a clip of Trump talking about meritocracy. Stewart answered by asking where that meritocracy was, saying the administration had shown no evidence of it and calling the word another empty label.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.