Jon Stewart’s return as host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” has been a smashing success. Not just in improved ratings for the show, but in viral moments created. It seems as if every week, Stewart cranks out must-see moments.

The latest? Monday night when Stewart savaged some of Donald Trump’s supporters. The show ran a clip of Trump supporters — many dressed in American flag garb with the words “Trump” or “Make America Great” somewhere on them — talking about how they would support being a dictator.

One said, “This country needs a dictator.”

Another said, “He could stand on the front steps of the White House and commit murder and I’m with him.”

And another said, “If he says it then I’ll go with it. And if he wants to be a dictator then so be it.”

Stewart’s face showed the horror that surely was also on the faces of many of his viewers.

Read those sentences again. These people, presumably actual voters, were talking about being fine with a dictator.

Stewart then let it fly, seemingly incredulous that people who talk about patriotism are “co-signing dictatorship.”

“Remember ‘we the people?’” Stewart said, with a photo of the U.S. Constitution behind him. “You know there are more words after that, right? Smaller font, still binding.”

Then he nailed it by saying, “If you want to love Trump, love him. Go to the rallies. Buy the sneakers. You want to give him absolute power. You want him to be the leader uber alles, you want them to have the right of kings, you do you. But stop framing it as patriotism!”

As the live studio audience applauded, Stewart said, “Because the one thing you cannot say is that Donald Trump is following the tradition of the founders. He is advocating for complete and total presidential immunity — his words not mine. That is monarchy (expletive), and it’s your right to support it, but just do me a favor for historical accuracy. Next time you want to dress up at the rallies wearing the right (expletive) colored coats.”

As Stewart said that last sentence, a photo of British Revolutionary War soldiers appeared on the screen behind him.

Baltimore’s bold coverage

Here’s quite the headline: “PAC backed by Sinclair chairman/Baltimore Sun owner funds ad critical of Mayor Brandon Scott.”

The story was written by Emily Opilo, staff writer for … The Baltimore Sun.

Opilo wrote, “The ad is the first to emerge in the 2024 race, which pits Scott, a Democrat, against the former mayor Dixon as well as former prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah and businessman Bob Wallace, also Democrats. While Dixon has trailed Scott in fundraising with her campaign committee, her bid to reclaim the mayoralty has been bolstered by the PAC, which has been funded in large part by two donors: John Luetkemeyer of Continental Realty Corp. and David Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting Group and co-owner of The Baltimore Sun.”

Opilo added, “Dixon, a Democrat, has appeared frequently on Sinclair’s Baltimore affiliate WBFF-TV, known as Fox 45, both ahead of and during her campaign. She has granted the station exclusive interviews and the station has aired some of her town hall events. She appeared on the station live on the morning of her campaign announcement.”

Good for the Sun to dig into who is behind these ads, but it’s also disturbing to find out who that is.

As NPR media reporter David Folkenflik wrote in February, “(There is) outrage among some Baltimore residents and journalists who have seen Smith steer the nearly 200 local television stations owned or controlled by his company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, hard to the right politically.”

At the time, Smith’s business partner, conservative commentator and entrepreneur Armstrong Williams, told Folkenflik that the paper would cover topics that readers care about, adding, “You see more about crime. You see more about the mayor and City Hall.”

Crime and the mayor were the focus of the ad criticizing Scott. It included a grainy, black-and-white image of a crime scene with the chalk outline of a body on the ground next to a gun. The sound of gunfire can be heard with a voice saying, “Baltimore just can’t afford four more years.”

Opilo wrote, “Baltimore’s homicide rate fell below 300 in 2023 for the first time in nearly a decade. Scott’s opponents have argued city residents still do not feel safe amid higher rates of quality-of-life crimes such as car thefts.”

That’s good context by Opilo.

A bad place to work

Good get by CNN to interview Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado on Tuesday, the day he announced he would leave Congress at the end of the week.

Buck told CNN’s Dana Bash, “It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress and, having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in 40, 50 years to be in Congress. But I’m leaving because I think there’s a job to do out there. This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.”

The Caitlin Clark effect

University of Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark celebrates Sunday’s victory against Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Just last week, I wrote about how University of Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark is a television phenomenon. On March 3, a TV audience of 3.9 million tuned in on Fox to watch Clark break the all-time Division I scoring record (for men and women) in Iowa’s victory against Ohio State. It was the most-watched women’s game in 25 years.

Well, Clark did it again.

On Sunday, Iowa beat Nebraska in overtime for the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament on CBS. The game averaged 3.02 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s game on CBS since 1999. It also was the second most-watched women’s game this season (behind Iowa-Ohio State) and the third most-watched game since 1999.

The game peaked with 4.45 million viewers in overtime.

The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch wrote, “Here is something that is mind-blowing for the sports viewership nerds. Duke-Carolina men’s games have long been the standard for regular-season college basketball viewership. Those teams played on Saturday and drew 3.076 million viewers on ESPN. The Iowa-Nebraska game was just a shade under that on Sunday and was the most-watched basketball game on Sunday on any network.”

Speaking of Clark …

NBA star Steph Curry was asked about Clark during an interview on “CBS Mornings.”

Curry said, “She has an overall floor game, she’s racking up close to triple-doubles every night and her shooting ability is her superpower. But, the rest of her game is as polished as that and so it’s must-see TV. And I love what it has done for women’s basketball in terms of when she shows up, the seats are filled and there is a different energy.”

Curry was on the broadcast talking to CBS News national correspondent Jericka Duncan about his new book “I Am Extraordinary.” Written by Curry and illustrated by Geneva Bowers, the book “encourages kids to embrace the differences that make them extraordinary.”

March Madness news

Greg Gumbel, the lead studio host on CBS and Turner’s NCAA Tournament for men’s college basketball, will miss this year’s March Madness. The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch reported it’s because of “family health issues.” Ernie Johnson, the fantastic host of TNT’s “Inside the NBA” who also usually has some NCAA Tournament hosting duties, is expected to pick up some extra duty.

Meanwhile, CBS and TNT Sports put out their full broadcasting roster for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. One noticeable item was that Jamie Erdahl, who is normally a sideline reporter, will be in the studio giving game updates.

Erdahl tweeted, “Very, VERY pregnant – thankful @MarchMadnessMBB found me a chair to sit in for the opening weekend of my 9th NCAA Tournament! I’m your studio update voice.”

That’s how you treat people. Good job, CBS.

Media tidbits

NBC News’ Lester Holt, left, and Kristen Welker. (Courtesy: NBC News)

• AdWeek’s Bill Bradley writes, “Hot List: The Year’s Most Applauded TV Shows, People and Networks.” Bradley names NBCUniversal News Group as “hottest news organization,” listing all its user numbers from 2023 and adding, “Since taking over in 2020, NBCU News Group leader Cesar Conde has spearheaded this revival as he has methodically built a leadership team, network by network, that shares his strategic vision of how to evolve the News Group networks, all while emphasizing an inclusive corporate culture that makes the NBCU News Group a leader in attracting top executives, anchors and correspondents.”
• Circling back to Sunday night. The Academy Award ceremony on ABC drew 19.5 million TV viewers. That’s a four-year high and up from the 18.8 million that watched in 2023.
• On the topic of ratings, the conversation on NewsNation between anchor Chris Cuomo and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday night drew 264,000 total viewers, making it the most-watched show Cuomo has done since joining NewsNation in 2022.
• Good analysis from The New York Times’ Mark Landler with “The Royals Tried to Control Their Image Online. The Internet Had Other Ideas.”
• The Moscow Times with “Putin Signs Ban on Advertising for ‘Foreign Agents.’”
• The New York Times’ Katie Robertson and Benjamin Mullin with “Sprouts of Hope in a Gloomy Media Landscape.”
• The Los Angeles Times’ Jenny Jarvie with “After a writer expressed sympathy for Israelis in an essay, all hell broke loose at a literary journal.”
• Dan Wakeford, the former editor-in-chief of the now-defunct media startup The Messenger, has been named editor-in-chief at Us Weekly.
• The Atlantic’s Sophia Stewart with “What do crossword puzzles really test?”
• The New York Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel reports former NBA star and former ESPN basketball analyst Paul Pierce is likely joining FS1’s “Undisputed” in a regular role. He would share a debate table with main star Skip Bayless, as well as other regular contributors such as Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin and Rachel Nichols.
• Meanwhile, The Big Lead’s Liam McKeone writes, “Skip Bayless Just Doesn’t Have the Juice Anymore.”

Hot type

• You need a Los Angeles Times subscription for this one. The Times’ Jack Flemming with “Out-squatted: Handyman Flash Shelton will squat with your squatters — until they leave.”
• For The Washington Post, Colleen Grablick with “Cats aren’t jerks. They’re just misunderstood.”

More resources for journalists

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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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