Daily Show comedian Jon Stewart has had a disproportionate influence on administration policy during the Obama years, and the White House has proactively cultivated a personal relationship with him, including invitations on at least two occasions for private meetings,
Politico reported.
Stewart's satire has on several notable occasions had an impact on public policy though skits that highlighted social and political issues, and top Obama aides David Axelrod and Austan Goolsbee made it a priority to field calls and emails from the host and staff.
"I'd be hard pressed to think of a person who spoke with the same amount of authority to that big of a group of people," Eric Lesser, a former Obama White House aide and now Massachusetts state senator, told Politico.
Stewart's ascendancy came at a time that saw the fade of network news anchors such as Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather. He also reached an average of 1.3 million viewers, including 18- to 34-year-old males who have been traditionally elusive.
"He's a modern-day Will Rogers and Mark Twain," Arizona Sen. John McCain, a frequent GOP guest, told Politico.
He championed Sept. 11 responders a decade after the disaster, inviting four who were sick to appear on his show. That segment helped break the legislative logjam in the Senate, where Republicans were obstructing a bill that would provide billions in health benefits and compensation to 9/11 responders.
"What took us eight years of walking the halls of Congress, Jon Stewart in 22 minutes literally moved mountains and gave us a heartbeat again when we were flat lined," John Feal, an Army veteran and post-9/11 clean-up worker, told Politico.
He has also been a crusader for veterans. At one point in 2009, he shot down an Obama proposal to remove vets with private insurance plans from the VA rolls. One day after, the administration reversed the proposal, while his segmented was discussed during a White House meeting the following day.
"I don't think there's been a single person in the media who's more strongly influenced the support of veterans' policies than Jon Stewart," said Paul Rieckhoff, founder and CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Skits in the aftermath of the Charleston, South Carolina, shooting and commentary on the national debate about the Confederate flag may have set the context for its removal.
"Whether it's guns or the VA or anything like that, he tried to reflect back, I think, a national sentiment or national mood to policymakers, and he did it sometimes poignantly and he did it other times very harshly, with very harsh words and biting humor but the idea is, 'I need you to pay attention to this and I need you to do something better,'" Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee chairman, told Politico.
Jon Stewart's last show is set to broadcast on Thursday, Aug. 6.
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