"Unity in the streets, divisive in the sheets": Jon Stewart mocks GOP's "new tone" at convention

Jon Stewart on Tuesday's episode of "The Daily Show" harangued Republicans like Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for delivering a speeches at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee that trafficked in divisive and inflammatory political language, despite bipartisan calls to tone down the rhetoric in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump over the weekend. 

The comedian kicked off his monologue by airing a montage of clips of conservative figureheads and lawmakers — including Johnson, who urged for the convention to be a "moment that helps us down that path of healing and unity" — requesting solidarity in the wake of Trump's close encounter with death. Stewart followed by showing a portion of Johnson's speech, in which the far-right politician claimed that "today's Democrat agenda — their policies — are a clear and present danger to America, our institutions, our values, and our people."

"Democrats have forgotten American families," Johnson said. "They have abandoned the hardworking middle class. But with president Trump and Republicans, those forgotten Americans are forgotten no more. Republicans are the party of opportunity, liberty, and prosperity for all. We proved we know how to make life better for all Americans, and we can do it again with a secure border, smaller government, less regulation, and lower taxes."

"We've repaired the damage caused by Democrats before and we will do it again," the senator continued. "We will complete the mission president Trump first articulated in 2016 to make America great again."

“I guess he’s what’s known as unity in the streets, divisive in the sheets,” Stewart quipped.

“But, to be fair, and I wanna be fair in this new environment," the late-night host added. "Senator Johnson did not mean to stoke anger. His teleprompter did."

Johnson said after the speech that his teleprompter displayed an old speech instead of an updated one that called for unity. Stewart played a voiceover of a political commentator who attempted to clarify Johnson's position, saying, "What he wanted loaded in the prompter was that we needed a somber moment in history, we should heed president Trump's call to unite, to be strong, to be determined. We must heal. He said, 'I don't know how the other one got in there and screwed up the teleprompter.' But again, he went ahead and read it."

"What a d***hebag!" Stewart exclaimed, before leaning into the bit by putting on his glasses and jesting, "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. That was in my teleprompter. I apologize."

Continuing to harp on the feigned unity theme, Stewart then turned his focus to conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., who was unsurprisingly one of the most outspoken figures present at the Republican Convention. 

"Rogue teleprompters weren't the only ones having trouble adjusting to the Republicans' new tone," he alleged. "One particularly fiery member of Congress struggled mightily, as her body rejected the unity theme, as though it were transplanted like a monkey heart," he added, before playing a clip of Greene speaking at the event. Between remarks, Greene smiles uncannily, raises her fist in the air, and makes a series of throaty noises as the crowd cheers. 

“She knows she’s making that noise, right?” Stewart asked. “Or is that the noise when the interior monologue is going, ’Marjorie, there’s gonna be plenty of time to talk about Satanic Democrats, just keep it in, Marjorie, just... ” he added, feigning his own version of the congresswoman's odd sounds.

Greene was among a number of Republicans who accused President Joe Biden and Democrats of being at fault for the Saturday assassination attempt, writing in a series of tweets on X/Twitter that the country is embroiled in "a battle between good and evil."

She baselessly claimed that Democrats tried to "murder President Trump,” — despite the fact that the shooter was a registered Republican — and accused them of being "a party of pedophiles, murdering the innocent unborn, violence, and bloody, meaningless, endless wars.”

"The Daily Show" airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central and streams on Paramount+