Jon Stewart, the comedian and host of “The Daily Show” revealed on Tuesday that Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) abruptly canceled a scheduled appearance during his Election Day coverage.
Though veiled in comedy, Stewart expressed that Fetterman was scheduled to join his show until, “30 seconds before we were supposed to have him as a guest.”
In a clip posted to the social media platform X, Stewart explained, “We were going to join Senator Fetterman in Pennsylvania. He is unable to join us.”
The comedian continued, “But because we are a professional and venerated new show, it’s not like I just have to sit here with nobody to talk to or nothing to do, just because somebody said, 30 seconds before we were supposed to have him as a guest.”
Pennsylvania Senator Fetterman was to guest with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show’s live election special via satellite. According to Stewart, he cancelled 30 seconds before he was to appear. pic.twitter.com/5h6dreSheK
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) November 6, 2024
Appearing to impersonate Fetterman, he told viewers, “Yeah, I’m not doing that.”
Fetterman canceled only hours before national news publications and election watchers began calling Pennsylvania for President-elect Donald Trump, which preceded his projected victory in the Electoral College.
At press time, Trump is poised to win the popular vote against Vice President Kamala Harris and secure 312 votes in the Electoral College. This would give him eight more Electoral College votes than the former president secured in 2016 and make him the Republican to win the popular vote since 2004.
Though Fetterman canceled his appearance with Stewart, the senator appeared on other media earlier in the night, including the Amazon Prime Video election night coverage hosted by Brian Williams.
Fetterman also appeared on Newsmax, telling the conservative cable network that Harris could potentially outperform former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in rural areas of the Keystone State.
Near his closing remarks, Fetterman suggested the race would be very close, hinting at his message to The Hill last month, when the senator warned that Elon Musk is “incredibly popular” and that the billionaire could prove himself a significant benefit to Trump’s campaign.
“Most endorsements don’t count for much in this business, but Musk is incredibly popular,” said Fetterman, before acknowledging Musk is popular with “a demographic that Democrats have struggled with here.”
Though Fetterman did not name a demographic, polling conducted in 2022 found Republicans and white men are the most likely groups to have a positive view of Musk. Exit polls suggest Trump received the support of 57 percent of all men who cast ballots in the commonwealth, but polls found Trump only carried 55 percent of the demographic during the 2020 election.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jon Stewart” by LateNighter.
