“Jon Stewart benefited by 829% ‘overvalue’ of his NYC home even as he labels Trump’s civil case ‘not victimless,’” read the headline in The New York Post Wednesday. And like so many stories about the politically polarizing Daily Show host, the Post story prompted social media outrage and countless re-writes from other (mostly conservative) outlets.
The gist of it is this: Jon Stewart took defenders of Donald Trump to task on Monday night’s Daily Show for arguing that when Trump inflated the value of his real estate assets to get better terms on loans and insurance it was “a victimless crime.”
Stewart’s contention was that “money isn’t isn’t infinite,” and when one person gets a loan because they lied, it means there’s less money available for loan seekers who give an honest valuation of their assets. Hence, not a victimless crime.
The Post article countered that Stewart himself paid real estate taxes on his home in New York based on the city’s valuation of his property, but then sold it for significantly more, making him a hypocrite for criticizing Trump’s overvaluation of his real estate holdings.
It’s not the role of this site to fact-check The New York Post, but selling your home for more than its assessed value is not the same thing as over-inflating your home’s worth (and size) in order to obtain a loan or a better rate on your insurance.
Which is likely what Stewart was thinking when he issued this tweet late Wednesday:
“OMG!! I’ve been caught doing something not remotely similar to Trump! I guess all I need to do now is start a fraud college, steal classified docs, bankrupt casinos, pay hush money, grab pussies, discriminate in housing, cheat at golf and foment insurrection and you’ll revere me!”
Needless to say, Stewart’s response did nothing to quell his critics.
“Unfunny Hypocrite thief says what?” responded a Twitter/X user named “Catturd”
“You reduced your taxes by using a lower assessment and sold at a much higher than assessed value. That’s more than not remotely similar…that’s even worse!” wrote “JKash MAGA Queen”
