Comedian Jon Stewart said that the Supreme Court‘s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade showed that the institution has become “the Fox News of justice.”
Stewart, the former host of The Daily Show, denounced the recent decision to rescind the landmark 1973 abortion rights case during Thursday’s episode of his The Problem With Jon Stewart podcast. Stewart argued that the Court had become a “cynical political arm” that made decisions based on personal ideology rather than “reasoned debate” while comparing the institution to Fox News.
“The idea that this was based in any kind of reasoned debate or philosophical education—the Supreme Court is now the Fox News of justice, in my mind,” said Stewart. “It is a cynical pursuit, in the same way that Fox News would come out with ‘we’re fair and balanced’ under the patina of what would be a high-status pursuit to the betterment of society—journalism. They are a cynical political arm.”
Despite many considering Fox News to be clearly conservative-leaning, the slogan “fair and balanced” was used for most of the network’s more than 25 years in existence, although it was dropped in 2017.
Stewart maintained that the Supreme Court had become similar to Fox News because it was engaging in a kind of disingenuous “Kabuki theater” with its recent decisions.
He suggested the Court’s conservative majority was part of an effort to undermine the principle behind Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous quote “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
Stewart argued that the Court had displayed a lack of “consistency” by recently ruling against allowing New York to ban the open carry of guns, while the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade—Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—effectively allows states to regulate female reproductive systems.
“When you look at the ridiculous Kabuki theater now of justice confirmation, where they can just go out there and just f**king lie—like, if this were about debate, then they would’ve understood what perjury meant,” Stewart said. “But they are now the Fox News of justice.”
“I mean, there is no consistency. States can’t regulate guns, but they can regulate [uteruses]?” he continued. “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice, right? What you don’t realize is there is a goodly amount of individuals who are trying to bend it back.”
While Stewart denounced the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs during his podcast on Thursday, he praised the Court’s ruling in the case Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety on Wednesday.
The decision allows U.S. Army veteran Le Roy Torres to sue Texas over losing his job due to an injury he received while serving in the military. Stewart has also supported a congressional effort to protect the rights of veterans who have suffered injuries or illness.
Newsweek reached out to Fox News for comment.
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