Comedian Jon Stewart has a message for journalists: Stop taking President Trump’s comments personally.

The former host of “The Daily Show” joined fellow comedian Dave Chappelle and CNN’s Christiane Amanpour this week for a wide-ranging interview that covered the current U.S. political landscape. Mr. Stewart said that members of the media engage in a losing battle with Mr. Trump when they allow their egos to get in the way of objective reporting.

“I think journalists have taken it personally,” he told the network’s chief international anchor for an interview on Tuesday. “They’re personally wounded and offended by this man. He baits them, and they dive in. What’s he’s done well, I’ve thought, is appeal to their own narcissism, their own ego. … The journalists stand up and say, ‘We are noble! We are honorable! How dare you, sir!’ And they take it personally, and now he’s changed the conversation to not that his policies are silly or not working or any of those other things.”

Mr. Stewart, speaking from London’s Royal Albert Hall, added that networks seem to saturate the media landscape with Mr. Trump because the potential advertising revenue is too enticing to pass up.

“You’ve got to make money, too. You’ve got bills to pay, man,” he said. “You’ve got electric bills. You’ve got food. You know? This guy is giving you guys all cash. … It’s all about the fight. He’s able to tune out everything else and get people focused on the fight — and he’s going to win that fight.”

Ms. Amanpour countered that “bean counters” were more concerned with ratings and revenue.

“We, the journalists — we, I think, believe our job is to navigate the truth and do the fact-checking and all the rest of it,” she said.

President Trump has been able to appeal to journalists’ “own narcissism” by attacking them, says Jon Stewart. “They take it personally, and now he’s changed the conversation to, not that his policies are silly or not working … it’s all about the fight.” pic.twitter.com/2N3V5NqZ6Q — Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) October 30, 2018

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