Jon Stewart Tells Democrats To Skip 'Performative' Impeachment Hearings If They Win Congress

Comedian Jon Stewart told Democrats last week that a House majority should go to the economy and not to a new round of Trump impeachment hearings. Answering fan questions at the end of Wednesday's episode of his podcast, The Weekly Show, Stewart was asked whether impeaching Trump would be a strategic mistake given that a conviction is unlikely, Mediaite reported.

Stewart said he did not want to see a "five-act performative play of House hearings," and he said Trump and his allies know how to "run out the clock." He described the country as being in a "triage" situation and said what he wants is "a full government effort on rebalancing this economy," with real ideas on labor versus capital.

Stewart pointed to the two earlier impeachments and the Jan. 6 inquiry as proof that hearings do not produce accountability. Per Mediaite, he asked what reason there was to expect Democrats could succeed now if they could not bring accountability for Jan. 6 in two years.

He did not rule out oversight altogether. Fox News quoted him saying Democrats could investigate if they want, but that he did not want "everybody having the opportunity to pantomime accountability," and that they should "govern."

Trump addressed the subject Wednesday in the Oval Office, Mediaite reported, dismissing the chance that Democrats would impeach him and saying, "I can do whatever I want, if I want."

Stewart is not the only Democratic-aligned voice urging restraint. Fox said James Carville and Al Hunt cautioned against impeachment on their podcast Tuesday, with Hunt saying Democrats should "Investigate, investigate, investigate." Fox also quoted Rahm Emanuel, in a Sunday interview, saying, "You're never going to get an impeachment." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has declined to say whether he would support impeachment proceedings, Fox noted.