The Daily Show‘s 2024 election night coverage concluded as it became increasingly clear that Donald Trump was going to be elected to the presidency. In the show’s final moments, Stewart offered a heartfelt reminder to his audience at home: “We have to regroup and we have to continue to fight and continue to work day in and day out to create the better society for our children, for this world, for this country that we know is possible. It’s possible.”
According to Variety, though, Stewart had even more to say to the live studio audience that had assembled for the special.
“Can I tell you what a joy you were, how happy I am to have spent the evening with you and not sitting at home throwing shit at my television screen,” Stewart said. “You have helped us all have a beautiful distraction, and you’re gonna leave here, and you’re gonna look at your phone, and you’re gonna go home, and you’re gonna have that weird feeling where your knees feel wobbly, and you’re like, ‘Do I have hypoglycemia?’ But you don’t! You just have a temporary anxiety and paralysis that comes with disappointment and just a soupçon of despair.”
“It will pass. And we will be back, digging ditches for democracy once again in the way that we have always had to do, and I thank you guys for your dedication, and I thank you for being here. Get home safe.”
Variety also reported that the studio audience was instructed to turn their cell phones off at 10:30, 30 minutes before the special began. That meant that, when they turned their phones on at midnight, the race was essentially over. Stewart’s special was filled with his trademark comedic send-ups, but punctuated by a tone of increasing panic as the results became clearer. Clearly, Stewart wanted to send his audience home on a slightly more uplifting note.
