Just hours after Comedy Central announced that Jon Stewart plans on sticking with The Daily Show through 2025, the part-time host got an unexpected—but clearly very welcome—blast from the past.
On Monday night’s episode of The Daily Show, Stewart was about 15 minutes into his monologue—which was largely a spirited rant against Donald Trump’s xenophobia-filled rally at Madison Square Garden and his desire to resurrect an archaic law from 1798—when former correspondent/voice of reason Jessica Williams appeared.
After questioning whether it was really her, Williams assured him she was not a hologram. “You think Comedy Central has hologram money?,” she asked, which seemed to convince Stewart that it was indeed his former colleague—in the flesh.
“I’m just here, in real life, to tell you something,” Williams said. “Don’t be sad, Jon. Everything’s going to be ok. For you. A white guy. A rich old white guy.”
While Williams seemed confident that Stewart’s “rich old white guy privilege” would save him from whatever hellscape Trump might turn America into should be win back the presidency, she wasn’t so sure that it even really mattered. “Honestly, how much longer do you really have, living-wise?” she wanted to know, as she just assumed that Stewart had some sort of terminal disease.
When an offended Stewart asked why she would think that, Williams explained it was his “general vibe and… this face thing. Woof!”
As Stewart did his best not to break in the moment, Williams assured him that he would be fine no matter what the outcome of the upcoming election is. “It doesn’t matter,” she explained. “Because for non-old white people, for people of color, and women and queer people, it’s going to be a completely different story.”
Ultimately, Williams addressed the audience directly to acknowledge that we’re all exhausted right now, as “anger and disappointment in our political discourse is exhausting.” But the worst thing we can do, according to Williams, is to give into that weariness.
“Do not let them exhaust you,” Williams said. “Don’t let the constant draining bullsh*t wear you out. Do not turn away. Look right down that barrel and say, ‘not today apathy.’… And no matter what happens, we have to throw our arms around the people who need us the most. And hang the f**k on.”
The only one Williams’ advice did not apply to was Stewart, whom she encouraged to “let go.” When he shared that he had just signed on for another year with The Daily Show, Williams laughed. “Oh my god, you’re crazy. You think you’re gonna live for another year?”
Monday’s appearance marked Williams’ second return to The Daily Show this year. Previously, she visited with Stewart in April, in the midst of Trump’s hush money trial.
Williams joined The Daily Show in 2012, when she was 22, making her the series’ youngest-ever correspondent. She departed the series in 2016 and went on to co-create the comedy podcast 2 Dope Queens with Phoebe Robinson, which then inspired an HBO series of the same name. Today, she stars on the Apple TV+ series Shrinking with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford. But Williams has nothing but love for Stewart and The Daily Show.
Earlier this month, Williams was interviewed by the AP about Shrinking and got emotional when the conversation turned to The Daily Show. She talked about what a great boss Stewart was. She described her April appearance as feeling like “going back to see my long lost uncle who was just so proud of me… He’s just like the best dude.”