Final appearance together as president and host sees pair spar over Iran, Veterans’ Administration, Donald Trump and whether ‘Hope’ ever arrived

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

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Barack Obama mocked foes, talked up his legacy and teased Jon Stewart in a nostalgic final appearance as president on The Daily Show, providing a bittersweet farewell for the old sparring partners.



“I can’t believe you’re leaving before me,” Obama told his host, who is due to retire in two weeks after 16 years in the Comedy Central hot seat. “I’m going to issue an executive order: Jon Stewart cannot leave the show. It’s being challenged in the courts.”

The two men bantered on Tuesday night’s show over Iran, Donald Trump, lost opportunities and the “Hope” posters – gentle jabs rather than blows that yielded a fond, affectionate coda to the satirical news show’s prickly relationship with the president.

Obama joked that critics of the Iran nuclear deal seemed to think that “if you had brought Dick Cheney to the negotiations everything would be fine”.

Stewart, who reflected liberals’ initial euphoria and later disappointment with the Obama era, noted his guest’s recent run of victories: “It appears that you’re feeling it a little bit right now. Do you feel like seven years in …”

“I know what I’m doing,” Obama interrupted. “A lot of the work that we did early starts bearing fruit late. The way I’m feeling right now is, I’ve got 18 months.” He vowed to tackle climate change and fuel-efficiency standards before leaving power.

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With Obama approaching his final year in the White House and Stewart’s own retirement imminent the encounter had a valedictory air.



The president was ebullient but more serious than on some of his six previous visits to the Daily Show studio in New York.

Stewart “chewed up” the president in a 2012 election campaign interview, according to former White House press secretary Jay Carney, but this time left him more or less intact.

Stewart needled the president over the Veterans Administration’s continued travails, prompting some Obama defensiveness. “If you have a government that was built on 1930 models and it’s not updated for decades, there’s going to be a gap, relative to what other folks do.”

When introducing Obama he alluded to the president’s later engagement at a fundraising dinner for Senate Democrats. “Let’s get right to it – I’m sure there’s a fundraiser he has to be at.”

Obama parried and chided Stewart for jumping on the story of the IRS targeting conservatives, which he said was false. Congress, Obama said, “passed a crummy law” that provided vague guidance to IRS employees, who implemented the law “poorly and stupidly”.

The boldness tickled Stewart. “Boy, you really do have only a year left!”

Obama said he felt strongly that “stuff gets better if we work at it and we stay focused on where we are going”. He said the “Hope” posters from his 2008 election run gave some the impression that everything would be fixed right away.

“We didn’t make those. You made those,” Stewart noted.

The president conceded many goals would remain unmet when he leaves office in 2017. “You’re always going to fall short, because if you’re hitting your marks, that means you didn’t set them high enough. We don’t score a touchdown every time, but we move the ball forward.”

Switching imagery, Obama said he focused on the three-quarters of the loaf he was able to get but recognised it was the job of Stewart and the media to focus on the rest of the loaf. “You’re going to really go with this whole sandwich analogy?” responded the host.

Obama poked fun at the GOP’s anguish over Trump’s surge in the polls. “I’m sure the Republicans are enjoying Mr Trump’s current dominance as the front-runner.”

Added Stewart: “Anything that makes them look less crazy.”