Jon Stewart recalls backlash he received for suggesting COVID leaked from a lab
Jon Stewart discussed backlash he received in 2021 for suggesting COVID leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart recalled being stunned by liberal anger toward him Monday when he espoused the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic began with a lab accident in Wuhan, China.
Upon the news of the Department of Energy's reported assessment that the coronavirus likely originated from a lab leak – a theory once derided as fringe and even racist in the mainstream media – Stewart discussed his memorable June 2021 appearance on "The Late Show" with his friend Stephen Colbert, where he said it was a clear explanation for the pandemic.
During his conversation with staffers from his new Apple show "The Problem," Stewart recalled receiving heavy criticism from the left for his assertion that the coronavirus could have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
"First of all, I wasn't waiting on the Department of Energy to weigh in on this," Stewart said.
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"The larger problem with all of this is the inability to discuss things that are within the realm of possibility without falling into absolutes and litmus-testing each other for our political allegiances as it arose from that. My bigger problem with that was I thought it was a pretty good bit that expressed kind of how I felt, and the two things that came out of it were I'm racist against Asian people, and how dare I align myself with the alt-right," he continued.
Jon Stewart recalled liberal rage against him in 2021 for espousing the lab-leak theory for the coronavirus pandemic. (REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo)
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"The backlash was swift, immediate, and quite loud. And again, I didn't take that personally either. Like, we live in a world where, like, I have my opinions, I'm not mad at the backlash either because they're doing what I'm doing, which is expressing myself," he said.
Stewart then laid out his objections to his critics, who he argued took an all-or-nothing approach to his remarks.
"The part that I don't like about it is the absolutes and the dismissive like 'f--k you, I'm done with you. I will never forgive you, you have crossed an unforgivable line. You've expressed an opinion that is antithetical to mine, or not mine,'" he said.
Stewart joked that he might as well have put "Hillary for Prison" on his head because after his remarks on the show, people labeled him a Republican. The former late-night host often discusses politics on his podcast and has advocated for 9/11 first responders and victims in recent years.
Stewart astonished Colbert's audience – and appeared to also surprise Colbert himself – when he said in 2021 the pandemic had likely been caused "by science."
"‘Oh, my God, there’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China,'" he said. "What do we do?’ ‘Oh, you know who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab.’ The disease is the same name as the lab. That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?"
"‘Oh, my God, there’s been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Pennsylvania. What do you think happened?'" Stewart went on. "Like, ‘Oh I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean?’ Or it’s the f---ing chocolate factory!"
Colbert, a reliable sycophant for Democrats and liberal talking points, jokingly suggested Stewart was working for Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., with his comments.
Members of the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease. (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)
Stewart received widespread praise in the media as the host of "The Daily Show," but his COVID remarks were not met with similar adulation.
"This provides an important lesson about celebrities: You shouldn’t get your political opinions from them, or your scientific opinions either," Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman wrote at the time.
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Indeed, Stewart's words caused an uproar for aligning with numerous Republicans and such figures as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump administration Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield.