Jon Stewart has hit out at the media coverage of Donald Trump's New York "hush money" trial, comparing the non-stop reporting to O.J Simpson's court case.
The former president is facing fraud charges for allegedly falsifying business documents, reportedly to cover "hush money" payments Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 general election.
The adult film star—real name Stephanie Clifford—claims to have had a one-night stand with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied the affair with Daniels, along with the charges against him.
After a week of jury selection, opening statements were delivered at Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday. Stewart blasted the around-the-clock coverage of the trial during last night's installment of The Daily Show, accusing the media of "trying to make this [like] O.J."
The comedian savaged news channels that have shown regret at giving Trump airtime in the past, with Stewart declaring "learning curves are for p******."
The 61-year-old then cut to recent press coverage of Trump's trial, including footage of MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski proclaiming "history will be made."
"Perhaps if we limit the coverage to the issues at hand and try not to create an all-encompassing spectacle of the most banal details, perhaps that would help," Stewart said, before jumping to CNN, ABC, KTLA, Fox News and GoodDay New York footage of Trump's motorcade on Monday.
"They're now making their way across town, along 57th street," a reporter for GoodDay New York says over a snippet of Trump's vehicle heading to the courthouse.
"They just crossed Park Avenue, making their way up towards Lexington Avenue."
While a reporter for ABC 13 describes Trump's arrival as the "intersection of American history with defiance."
Mocking the ABC journalist's wording, Stewart said: "He arrived at the intersection of American history where he put a quarter in the parking meter of destiny."
"Seriously, are we going to follow this guy to court every f****** day?" he continued. "Are you trying to make this O.J.? It's not a chase. He's commuting."
Newsweek has reached out to Donald Trump for comment via email.
NFL star O.J. Simpson was arrested in 1994 for the murder of his wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. He plead not guilty and was acquitted following a lengthy trial.
The media devoted significant time to covering the case, with around 150 million Americans tuning in to hear the verdict in October 1995.
Simpson passed away on April 10 at the age of 76. However, the former Buffalo Bills running back had advice for Trump, following the Republican politician's indictment for the mishandling of classified documents in July.
The 77-year-old is accused of retaining official papers after leaving the White House and storing the materials at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, Simpson shared what his legal representatives had taught him about managing the media.
"The one thing they all told me and stressed to me was 'do not talk about the case publicly," he said in the clip. "Do not do interviews about the case. [...] I don't know if Donald's lawyers are stressing this too. If they're not, they should be fired, and he should sue."
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Sophie is a Newsweek Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in Lincoln, UK. Her focus is reporting on film and ... Read more
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