Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms

by John Hodgman

The reporters asked if Donald Trump running for office meant the end of satire. Jon said no. They asked if Donald Trump were elected president, would Jon come back to television? Jon said absolutely not. I understood how Jon felt, or at least I knew how I felt. A few years earlier I had changed my persona on The Daily Show from the “Resident Expert” to the “Deranged Millionaire.” I did this in large part to make fun of Donald Trump. Because even back then, Donald Trump was appearing on cable news channels to peddle conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s religion and place of birth. It was 2011. The Apprentice was winding down and struggling. Like anyone, Donald Trump wanted to stay on television, so he was trying out some new ways of doing so, such as musing about running for president and/or just wandering onto cable news sets to tell obvious lies without any credentials other than that he was a (supposedly) rich white man who wanted to talk right now. I told The Daily Show that we should have our own entitled, wealthy, lunatic white male monster, and that person should be me, and they agreed with me.

Jon, here, is Jon Stewart.