Jon Stewart Defends Tony Hinchcliffe After Controversial Trump Rally Jokes: ‘I Find That Guy Very Funny’

One day after Tony Hinchcliffe‘s controversial jokes at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, Jon Stewart used his opening monologue on Monday’s “The Daily Show” to defend the comedian.

After highlighting other speakers at the rally like Tucker Carlson and Rudy Giuliani, Stewart said, “But of course, for the media there was one moment in particular that raised the alarms,” then played a supercut of network anchors criticizing Hinchcliffe’s jokes, which included calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Stewart then defended Hinchcliffe by saying, “Obviously, in retrospect, having a roast comedian come to a political rally a week before election day and roasting a key demographic … probably not the best decision by the campaign politically, but to be fair, the guy’s just really doing what he does.”

Stewart then played from jokes from Hinchcliffe’s “Roast of Tom Brady” set earlier this year, laughing at the segment and saying, “Yes, yes, of course, terrible, boo. There’s something wrong with me. I find that guy very funny. I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, bringing him to a rally and having him not do roast jokes? That’d be like bringing Beyoncé to a rally and not…,” alluding to an earlier joke he made about Kamala Harris’ recent rally, which featured a speech from Beyoncé rather than a performance.

Hinchcliffe’s rally jokes drew the ire of many political commentators and cable news hosts, as well as criticism from entertainers like Bad Bunny and Jennifer Lopez, as well as politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Watch the full segment below.