On Monday night, Jon Stewart appeared on The O’Reilly Factor to discuss Common’s inclusion in last week’s non-troversial White House poetry slam. Stewart took O’Reilly and his host organ, Fox News, to task for their Common coverage, and O’Reilly, in typical O’Reilly-ness, fought back with inanity. “There is a selective outrage machine here at Fox that pettifogs only when it suits the narrative that suits them,” said Stewart, before noting several other artists who supported controversial opinions with whom O’Reilly and Fox took no issue.
But even show staffers couldn’t contain their laughter when O’Reilly asked Stewart if, as hypothetical president, he would have chosen Common for the White House poetry slam. “If I’m the president and I’m booking my own poetry slams, throw me out of office,” said Stewart. “Because I would believe as president I would have things to do.”
