There’s not a lot that shocks Jon Stewart, but Donald Trump’s musings about potentially serving a third term as president have made the cut. After repeatedly floating the idea, Trump clarified on Sunday that he’s “not joking.”
“I’m sorry — considering the options? Are you trying to order off menu from the Constitution?” Stewart asked Monday night on “The Daily Show.”
During an interview with NBC News, the sitting president said, “There are methods which you could do it.” One of those, which has been floated, would be to urge his Vice President, JD Vance, to run for president and then cede his power back to Trump. He further stated there were additional methods, but did not elaborate.
“Yes, there are other methods. I think you tried one a few years ago,” Stewart said, alluding to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. “There are other methods for staying in power beyond when you are legally allowed to be there. Historically, some of them involve catapults.”
The Comedy Central host then wondered if Trump had something more “creative” in mind for his pursuit to stay in power. “Have you guys heard of the movie ‘Face/Off?’” he joked.
Though Stewart focused on the Signal scandal and the weekly progress emails government workers now have to send to DOGE, most of the monologue focused on accountability. In classic “Daily Show” fashion, the series posted clip after clip of everyone from National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to Vance and Trump himself dodging questions about how a journalist was added to a group chat about attack plans on Yemen.
The segment ended with multiple clips of Trump saying some variation of “I don’t know.” The topics Trump claimed to be unaware of were the Signal group chat; the Justice Department pausing its case against New York Mayor Eric Adams; his own cryptocurrency; Project 2025; E. Jean Carroll, the woman whom Trump raped; and the Jan. 6 insurrection, just to name a few of the many examples Stewart highlighted.
“So many things that Trump has seemingly no involvement in. Is it possible that he’s been severed?” Stewart asked.
He then called Trump’s repeated claims not to know about these important topics a “cynical strategy to avoid the buck stopping anywhere near you and evading accountability at all costs.” Watch the full monologue above.
