During Monday night’s broadcast of The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart tore into former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee over his criticism of singer Beyonce. Recently, the ex-Fox News host had made waves over a chapter in his recently released book, God, Guns, Grits, And Gravy, where he targeted the pop singer for her sexualized performances and the influence she has on children and young adults. Huckabee also called her husband, Jay-Z, “a pimp” for objectifying her sexually.
In the interview, which was edited for broadcast but posted in its entirety on the show’s website, Stewart took Huckabee to school, pointing out his hypocrisy due to his own close friendship with has-been rocker Ted Nugent. After Huckabee had made a ridiculous statement regarding 12-year-olds and stripper poles in relation to Beyonce, Stewart told him that “was truly outrageous” and decided to roast Huckabee then and there.
Stewart aired a clip from Huckabee’s Fox show where the ex-governor was playing bass guitar during a live performance with Ted Nugent. The song they played was “Cat Scratch Fever,” and the clip focused on the lurid lyrics, specifically “I can make that pussy purr with the stroke of my hand.” After the video, Huckabee tried to defend his obvious hypocrisy and differentiate the content of Nugent’s songs with the “crudeness” of today’s music. His defense amounted to claiming Nugent’s song was made for adults and it wasn’t nominated for a Grammy in 1978, unlike Beyonce’s music today.
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The Daily Show host wasn’t having any of it. He pointed out that Huckabee is fine with Nugent’s sex-obsessed music because he agrees “with his stance on firearms.” Meanwhile, he is put off by Beyonce “because she seems alien to you.” Moving away from Nugent to another artist that Huckabee admires, Stewart highlighted how “Johnny Cash shot a man just to watch him die,” referencing Cash’s song “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Overall, Huckabee was torched by Stewart Monday night. When Huckabee told Stewart to read his book for greater context, the host responded, “Oh, I read it…it ain’t Shakespeare!” Stewart also took the wannabe Presidential candidate to task for constantly using “Harvard” as a derogative, pointing out how throughout his book and in interviews, Huckabee uses the college, or higher education in general, in a degrading manner.
Huckabee may have 2016 ambitions, which is why he quit his Fox show, but I feel this interview will do a bit of damage to him in the long run. He has already been ridiculed by the mainstream press and Democrats over his Beyonce comments, especially as he’s related them to the Obamas. However, Stewart was able to show his viewers how narrow-minded and enclosed Huckabee’s thinking truly is, and did it while fully exposing his hypocrisy in a way others have not.
Below is video of the interview, courtesy of Comedy Central:
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
