Comedian Jon Stewart said that the media’s focus solely on President Trump is a mistake and ultimately a distraction from other threats.
The former “Daily Show” host said in a CNN interview that political pundits are “making a mistake” when they blame Trump for the country’s problems, arguing they should realign their focus to the threat posed by much larger institutions that have embraced “the idea that power is its own reward.”
“I think we make a mistake focusing this all on Donald Trump, as if he’s...Magneto and some incredible supervillain that has changed the very nature and temperature of the U.S.,” Stewart said, per Fox News. “He’s just been an effective vessel, but he’s not singing new songs.”
“I think it’s a mistake to focus it all on this one individual and not to focus it more on the idea that power is its own reward whether it be in the financial industry or government. Power doesn’t cede itself, and unless we can figure out a better way to balance out that power...we’ll all be vulnerable,” he said.
“I think we all have a bit of a tendency to grant amnesty to people that are doing things that we would prefer, even if that means that they’re doing things that are slightly undemocratic,” he continued. “So I think our focus unhealthily on this one individual comes at the price of systems and dynamics that have been in place long before this cat ever learned how to surf those waves.”
