Jon Stewart respectfully asks Senator Bob Menendez, how dumb is you?

It’s hard out there for corrupt politicians trying to make a name for themselves these days. Imagine trying to get some eyeballs on the cartoonish corruption of members of Congress when the former president is on trial for defrauding voters by covering up hush money payments to a porn star who allegedly spanked his little bottom with a magazine. That’s the position Trump has put poor New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez in.

Senator Menendez is one of the original American heroes of congressional corruption, and he’s been working overtime to outdo himself. Now on trial for the second time in the last decade, Menendez stands accused of accepting cash and gold bribes in exchange for political windfalls that benefit a few New Jersey businessmen. The evidence is comically apparent, too. Authorities found boots stuffed with cash, trash bags containing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and, most infamously, gold bars. As if that wasn’t bad enough, his web history also includes a search for “How much is one kilo of gold worth?”

All this leads Jon Stewart to ask, Senator Menendez, how dumb is you?

On tonight’s Daily Show, Stewart wondered aloud why this longtime congressman doesn’t use one of the many lawful avenues of corruption that have benefitted his colleagues. Things like insider trading or starting a PAC to accept gifts are not only legal but encouraged by representatives looking to dump stocks just ahead of a pandemic or hang out with Harlan Crow, a famously chill and normal billionaire. Stewart wants to know why Menendez is working so hard when Congress makes it easy to take advantage of power.

“At every turn, our Congress and our courts have been given a choice,” Stewart said, “Be less corrupt or redefine what constitutes corruption and get on with your bad selves.”