Jon Stewart Breaks Character to Praise Trump for Fast-Tracking Psychedelic Treatments

President Donald Trump, usually at the receiving end of ridicule from late-night show hosts, had a rare moment of approval from The Daily Show host, Jon Stewart, after he signed an executive order “removing barriers to psychedelic drugs as potential treatment”. 

Trump, in a Truth Social post on April 23, amplified a clip of Stewart where he starts by giving “credit where credit is due” and commends the President for doing “a solid over the weekend”. Stewart, however, ended up lampooning Trump later in his 20-minute monologue.

The executive order accelerates access to treatments for patients with serious mental illness by streamlining the development and accessibility of psychedelic therapies. In other words, the order will fast-track the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval process. 

“It's good. You did a good thing…A lot of people are going to get the help they need,” Stewart concluded.

Stewart joked that “these Oval Office gatherings…are somewhat revelatory of the president’s psyche, and really a good starting place for any accredited mental health professional.” Trump was talking about a study on the psychoactive drug, Ibogaine, which showed that users “experienced an 80% to 90% reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety within one month.” Trump then quipped, “Can I have some, please? I’ll take it. I’ll take it, whatever it takes.” “Oh wow. He’s depressed, too,” Stewart retorted. 

“I don’t think Donald Trump should treat that with hallucinogens, but if he did, would we even notice?” Stewart said in his inimitable wit. “If he took them, he’d be like, ‘They’re eating the cats and dogs! Right near my beautiful ballroom. By the way, did you know I’m Jesus?”

Stewart also asked if Trump had ever seen his signature on weed. He cracked: “...given how intensely he focused on the signing of this bill. I mean, he signed the shit out of this bill.” Stewart was referring to Trump’s delay in signing the psychedelics bill before saying, “That’s a good one. See that, Joe? You think Biden can do that?”

Stewart’s words run contrary to many of the things Trump has said about him over the years. The comedian was frequently in Trump’s crosshairs on his X account during the first term as he plastered him with labels such as “a dummy,” “a phony,” and termed him “highly overrated”. Moreover, Trump also mocked his use of “Stewart” as a stage name in place of his family name, Leibowitz, in a tweet in which he urged him to be “proud of his heritage”.