‘The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart Says Trump Has “All The Ingredients To Be A Top-Tier Authoritarian” — Except The “Ruthless Competence”​on April 15, 2025 at 3:48 am

The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart dedicated tonight’s episode to playing a game called “How Authoritarian Is We?” highlighting President Donald Trump‘s sycophantic cabinet and his taste for the opulent and absurd — and mocking the fact that he’s missing one crucial ingredient to being a good ol’ fashioned dictator.

“Luckily for us, the world is full of authoritarian leaders that we can measure Trump against: your Putins, your Xis, your Anna Wintours,” he prefaced.

Referencing Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s mistaken deportation to El Salvador, Stewart quipped, “I think the hosts of The View are about to get administratively errored.”

Aside from his policy, Stewart argued that authoritarianism also manifests itself in a certain type of aesthetic, donning his best Trump impression (hands and all) to make fun of the Oval Office’s golden cherub accents: “They’re angels. They visited me in the night and asked me to change my ways,” he said, making a nod to A Christmas Carol. “So I held them down and dipped them in gold … Have you ever heard an angel scream? It is just, it is erotic.”

Tackling his “excellent” physical and cognitive health examinations, Stewart called BS: “No. I’m going to say no to either of those numbers. I don’t want to be that guy, but he has a front butt. I mean, we all get there. It’s fine, you can have it. But what’s with, ‘He is forged by Hephaestus?’”

Concluding his assessment, Stewart said, “So Trump’s got it all, authoritarian-wise: the looks, the attitude, the relentless dissent-crushing — all the ingredients to be a top-tier authoritarian. All he needs now is to bring it home with his ruthless competence,” prompting a supercut of broadcast TV headlines concerning the tariff rollout about-face and ensuing stock market fiasco, continuing plane crashes, ongoing measles outbreak and DOGE firings and rehirings.

“So close!”

Watch the episode below: