Jon Stewart mocks Trump's pool speech, Stevens endorsement on pre-election Daily Show
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Daily Show host Jon Stewart mocked Trump's Reflecting Pool speech and a congresswoman's late Republican endorsement.
Democrats' sweeping midterm wins now reshape what his show covers next.
Background
Jon Stewart is the comedian who hosts The Daily Show every Monday and is an executive producer; he hosted the show full-time from 1999 to 2015 before returning on a one-night-a-week basis, and signed a new deal in October 2026 keeping him in the chair through 2028. The Nov 2 episode aired the night before Election Day, with the midterms widely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump's second term. Stewart used the slot to target Trump's Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool speech, Michigan congresswoman Haley Stevens' last-minute endorsement switch, and cable news polling coverage.
How it unfolded
- Nov 2, 2026On Monday's Daily Show, Stewart mocked Trump's election-eve speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which spent over 20 minutes on pool maintenance; Stewart walked offstage before returning.
- Nov 2, 2026Stewart also targeted Michigan congresswoman Haley Stevens' 11th-hour switch to endorse Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, and criticized cable news for hyping unreliable polls.
- Nov 3, 2026Election Day; the midterms were broadly seen as a referendum on Trump's second term, with competitive Senate and House races in several battleground states.
- Nov 5, 2026Correspondent Jordan Klepper called it a somber time for the few Republican survivors and cut to footage of Senator Ted Cruz bemoaning the GOP's losses.
- Nov 9, 2026Rachel Maddow joined Stewart to discuss Democrats' sweeping midterm victories as the party prepares to take control of both houses of Congress.
- Nov 10, 2026Desi Lydic took over the desk for the rest of the week, with guest actor Kathryn Hahn promoting the film Madden.
Key terms
- midterms
- US general elections held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term, when all House seats and about a third of Senate seats are contested.
- Election Day
- Ballots cast in person on the official day set for general elections in the United States.
- GOP
- The Republican Party, one of the two major political parties in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Stewart
- He mocked Trump for using an election-eve speech at the Reflecting Pool to discuss pool maintenance, and urged media to stop hyping polls he called unreliable.
- Trump
- At the Reflecting Pool, Trump said he had kept every promise he made, except far more.
- Stevens
- In earlier clips played by Stewart, Stevens called Rogers a nightmare who would go along with whatever Trump does, before her late endorsement switch.
- Cruz
- Cruz said Texas is blue and that he is the only statewide elected Republican remaining in Texas.
Still unverified
Stewart speculated about why Stevens changed her position, asking whether her endorsement had to do with El-Sayed not welcoming her.