As former President Donald Trump and his company face looming pressure after he has been ordered to pay a whopping $464 million to a New York court or post a bond that was recently reduced to $175 million to appeal the judgment, Jon Stewart skewered conservatives pundits who have sought to spin the case as a “victimless crime.”
On Monday's episode of "The Daily Show," Stewart mocked Trump's inability to come up with the money as New York Attorney General Letitia James threatens to seize his assets.
"RIP the Trump Organization. It died as it lived — fraudulently," he said. Saving a confetti blaster since 2016, Stewart popped open the canister with a grin. Despite the early celebration, Stewart was let down due to an appeals courts giving the former president a 10-day extension to pay the debt or post a bond, which was reduced to $175 million.
Stewart explained that Trump is now paying this penalty he would inflate the size of his real estate to secure favorable loan deals but when it came time to pay taxes, the former president "undervalued the very same properties."
"It was all a part of a very sophisticated real estate practice known as lying," he said.
However, media pundits from Fox News' Sean Hannity to "Shark Tank" judge Kevin O’Leary saw the fraud as a "victimless crime."
"Who's next?" O'Leary questioned, suggesting the government would come after other real estate developers.
"Ah 'who's next?' The persecuted minority of the investment community," Stewart joked. "But I am surprised to hear this from Kevin O'Leary, a guy who is such an a*****e that the other people on 'Shark Tank' think he's an a*****e."
In another clip, O'Leary was told that Trump was found liable for falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud, and conspiracy. But in response, O'Leary said “Everything that you just listed off is done by every real estate developer everywhere on Earth in every city. This has never been prosecuted.”
O'Leary's statement set off Stewart: “I don’t know if you know this, but most people just can’t commit fraud and expect to face no repercussions, even if everyone’s doing it."
He continued to explain fraud committed by struggling working-class Americans.
"Try getting a car loan by saying you have ten times as much money as you really do. Or claim 20 dependents when you have no children. Or say you make slightly less money to qualify for food assistance. I will guarantee you, there are not just financial consequences for those lies, but criminal ones,” he said.
“But don’t tell that to the investment community, because in their minds, in pursuit of profit, there is no rule that cannot be bent, there is no principle that cannot be undercut, as long as you and your f******g friends make money," Stewart said. "Apparently, the only immoral practice in the capitalist system is to use that money for people who may need it.”
“Stealing is only justified when you already have too much,” he strongly stated.
"The Daily Show" airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central and streams on Paramount+.
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