Question: What could ever drag Jon Stewart back to the Daily Show? Answer: His long-time fight for full health care coverage for 9/11 first responders.
Police, firefighters, and other first responders working in the rubble of the World Trade Center in 2001 have suffered a multitude of health repercussions in the last 14 years, believed to be related to hazardous substances in the wreckage.
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Stewart’s constant shaming of Congressional members as host of the Daily Show in 2010 was instrumental in getting lawmakers to pass the Zadroga Act, finally providing first responders full health benefits.
Now, the fund created by the act is running out of money, and Congress has failed to re-authorize spending.
That inaction brought Stewart back to the old studio, ready to fight a second round.
He said first responders had to travel to Washington, DC “at their own expense, hundreds of times” to get Congress to take action.
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The segment ended with current Daily Show host, Trevor Noah, suggesting Stewart reassemble the guests he interviewed in 2010. The scene shifted to Stewart, three empty chairs, and only one of the original first responder panelists. One of the others had passed away and two were too sick with complications from their 9/11 response to show up.
At the end of the scene, Stewart called on viewers to pressure Congress to reauthorize the health package using a social media blitz with the hashtag #WorstResponders.
(WATCH the video above from CBS News, or WATCH the full segment from the Daily Show below) — Photo: Comedy Central video
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