Jon Stewart Tells the Media to ‘Focus on Trump’ and Not the ‘Terrible’ Jokes at His Rally: ‘Focus on the Guy’ Who Wants to ‘Deport Everybody’

In the days leading up to the election, Jon Stewart wants the media to focus on Donald Trump, rather than the “terrible jokes” that others told at his Madison Square Garden rally.

“The media is focused on the terrible jokes that were made. Focus on Trump, who would have the power,” Stewart said in a new interview with Vanity Fair. “Focus on the guy going, ‘I’m going to deport everybody using the law we used to intern Japanese people.'”

More from Variety

On Monday’s “Daily Show” episode, Stewart discussed the controversial stand-up set from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who endorsed Trump and told jokes on stage at the rally. One such joke, in which Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage,” ignited a media firestorm and caused several high-profile Puerto Rican artists to show public support for Kamala Harris. Trump’s campaign later distanced itself from the remark.

“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 said on “The Daily Show” before cutting to jokes Hinchcliffe made earlier this year at Netflix’s “Roast of Tom Brady.”

Stewart laughed at the clips and said, “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.”

But much of Stewart’s “Daily Show” segment dealt with comments Trump has said himself, including his deportation plans. He told Vanity Fair he decided to hone in the immigration issue because “a core tenet” of Trump’s campaign is “pointing to migrants as the cause of our dystopian present.”

“Rather than work towards what is, I think, a pretty achievable, not-that-complicated idea of fixing an immigration system, they’ve decided to go a slightly different route, which is: ‘I’m going to take an amount of people that I don’t know the number of and force them to leave,'” Stewart said.

He added, “Rather than using a big boy approach and sitting down and rolling up your sleeves, this is what he does: Build a wall. … Deport them all. Okay — what’s that going to look like? Basically, it’s going to be stop-and-frisk for all of America. And it’s appalling. There is a way to protect the sovereignty of the nation and yet still treat everyone as humans. There seems to be no attempt to balance that because that’s not good demagoguing.”

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.