Jon Stewart allows Gaza to eclipse the eclipse on The Daily Show

We’re living in weird times. Earthquakes in New Jersey, rain in Los Angeles, and a total eclipse that managed to tear Americans away from their precious advertisements for an hour. It would have been a beautiful day if not for the four minutes of total blackout and members of the news media and politicians weaponizing the eclipse to discuss immigration and the will of God. Like we said, weird times.

Tonight on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart couldn’t ignore the moon’s alpha move, orbiting in front of the sun like it weren’t the source of all life on Earth. But pretty quickly, in his rundown of the eclipse news, he realized that there are two types of eclipse responses: 1) Excitement and 2) resentment. While correspondent Grace Kuhlenschmidt enjoyed a Krispy Kream special edition solar eclipse donut, which, as of press time, was “really good,” her colleague Ronny Chieng poo-pooed the eclipse, calling it a distraction from the war in Gaza. He might have a point.

Stewart allowed Israel’s war in Gaza to orbit in front of the eclipse, focusing on the two types of responses the United States offers countries being attacked by their neighbors. Comparing the action taken in Ukraine to the lack of action in Gaza, Stewart draws a line between the two wars. As The Daily Show’s handy montage lays out, the American government has spent years decrying the horrors in Ukraine, offering aid and support, but can only muster a sheepish “we’ll look into that” for Gaza. The Washington Post reports more than 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, and more than 33,000 people have been killed. The U.S., it seems, has two responses to tens of thousands of deaths, too. To quote Stewart quoting our government officials, this is “concerning.”

It wasn’t the funniest Daily Show, but coupled with a frustrating interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, who blames the lack of movement in Gaza on “everybody canceling all the time,” it was a necessary one.