Even if the rest of the world sees Russian President Vladimir Putin fully as a “semi-delustional autocrat” who has bought too far into his own propaganda, Daily Show host Jon Stewart observed on Thursday, Fox News is all too willing to treat him as a legitimate world leader.

But while conservatives trip over themselves to praise Putin for acting unilaterally, Stewart said, they immediately cry “imperial president” when U.S. President Barack Obama does the same.

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“What the hell is wrong with these people?” Stewart asked. “What happened to these people as children that has enabled this love-hate relationship with authoritarian figures and the inherent cognitive dissonance that goes along with such a schism?”

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R) joke about Obama wearing “mom jeans,” Stewart noted, had become a right-wing talking point, even if it tied in to overblown stories about Putin, like the story about him shooting a tiger — which turned out to have been tranquilized and trapped beforehand.

“For God’s sakes,” Stewart said. “How, in a 24-hour news cycle, do you upgrade Putin from wrestling bears to tigers, anyhow? By tomorrow, it’ll be, ‘Putin once smacked the teeth out of a great white shark and made it bl*w him, while Barack Obama just sat there, wistfully, wearing Capri pants and a baby bonnet.”

Stewart also mocked Sean Hannity for gushing over the sight of a shirtless Putin riding a horse.

“That’s an image that should be airbrushed on the side of a truck at a New Jersey rest area,” Stewart said, facepalming.

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Watch Stewart’s commentary, embedded in two parts, below:

Part One:

Part Two: