Jon Stewart skewers Republicans’ hysterical ‘migrant crime’ election narrative

Jon Stewart has roasted Republicans for pushing their wild narrative around immigration after Donald Trump coined the new nickname “migrant crime”.

On Monday night’s The Daily Show, the host rolled a plethora of media clips of lawmakers condemning migrants, baselessly calling them “illegal invaders” and “criminals, rapists, murderers, child predators”, among other things.

“We got criminals, we got terrorists. Is there anyone else down there we should be worried about?” Mr Stewart asked before he cut to a clip of Mr Trump saying: “Anybody ever heard of Hannibal Lecter, he’s a nice fellow, but that’s what’s coming into our country right now.”

Amazed at what the former president said, Mr Stewart responded: “Wouldn’t cannibals amongst them be the solution to the problem? Or are they fasting until they get to America?”

Mr Stewart went on to acknowledge that there is a bipartisan agreement that the US-Mexico border is a challenge, citing a report from CNN that officials were on track to process more than 300,000 migrants in December 2023 – an all-time monthly high – and adding that it was “not sustainable”.

However, Mr Stewart did point out that while the parties agree that this is an issue, Republicans did turn down a chance to pass a strong border bill earlier this month due to “how confident they are that fearmongering will be an effective election year strategy”.

“It’s all about branding,” the host added.

Instead of focusing on supporting a bill that could see stronger immigration restrictions, Mr Trump has spent his time trying to coin a term that associates President Joe Biden with “migrant crime”.

Well known for creating new terms and nicknames to use in his rambling campaign speeches, Mr Trump was seen in one clip on Monday’s show talking about “migrant crime”, which he said he would now refer to as “Biden migrant crime” – before shortening again to  “Bigrant crime”.

“That’s good, that’s smart,” Mr Trump said of his new phrase.

“It’s a portmanteau,” Mr Stewart mocked.

The host wasn’t completely sold on Mr Trump’s new catchphrase and joked that “it really just sounds like a migrant who’s open to crossing either border”.

It wasn’t just the migrant fearmongering that Mr Stewart focused on. He pointed to the duelling visits to the border buy both the former and current president last week.

“It was b****-ass Cassidy versus the Sundown Kid,” Mr Stewart mocked.

Mr Biden did, however, directly address Mr Trump during a speech while in Brownsville, Texas after being briefed by Customs and Border Patrol personnel.

“Here’s what I’d say to Mr Trump ... instead of telling members of Congress to block this legislation, join me – or I’ll join you – in telling the Congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill,” Mr Biden said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the olive branch has been extended across the aisle, in a show of genuine desire to solve this complex and vexing issue,” Mr Stewart reacted, before throwing it over to the Republican candidate: “Trump, you’re response?”

“Crooked Joe is the blood of countless innocent victims,” Mr Trump said in a clip from the rival speech he made down at the border.

Mr Stewart stared deadpan into the camera and said, “Hmmm, that’s a no.”

The show then ran a group of clips of Democrats saying that they welcome immigrants, with New York City Mayor Eric Adams echoing the words etched on the Statue of Liberty, which says to bring those who are “yearning to breathe free” – but had to caveat that by saying that the city is “out of room”.

Stewart concluded: “So this is the terrible cycle America is caught in: Democrats whose high-minded values and principles did not a contact high with reality and Republicans whose desire to solve the problem isn’t nearly as strong as their desire to exploit it.”