What to Know
Comedian Jon Stewart blasted President Donald Trump’s administration for “giving up” on the Second Amendment following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti over the weekend. A Border Patrol agent shot and killed Pretti, 37, after agents appeared to have wrestled him to the ground and disarmed him on Saturday morning. Many federal officials suggested that the shooting was justified because Pretti was carrying a gun, which local officials said he was legally allowed to do.
Stewart criticized Trump officials on Monday for backtracking on their support of the Second Amendment, suggesting that they only support the right to bear arms when it is convenient for them.
He then played four clips of Trump officials and allies blaming Pretti’s death on him carrying a gun.
“When you are bearing arms and you are confronted by law enforcement, you are raising the risk of force being used against you,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing.
“You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
“I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.
“Don’t let the left kid you with this, that this is just a normal protest. Peaceful protesters don’t have nine millimeter weapons with two extra magazines,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.).
Stewart could not believe what he was hearing.
“Are you f—ing kidding me right now? Are you f—ing kidding? Is that what the right is saying? Are you saying that the problem was the guy had a gun? Are you saying that the guns are the problem?” Stewart said on “The Daily Show.”
“Is everyone on the right coming together to say, carrying a legal firearm was the problem?” he added. “Am I hearing things? Is that really what you’re saying? Really? Is that what you’re saying?”
He went on to say that the administration’s excuse is “blowing my f—ing mind.” He then showed photos of Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two people at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, and the armed rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The people that brought you this guy and these guys and these guys as f—ing heroes who are brandishing their weapons, are telling you the big mistake was letting a citizen legally carry a gun,” Stewart said.
“I wasn’t shocked when you guys gave up the First Amendment, and I wasn’t shocked when you gave up the Fourth Amendment and the 10th Amendment and the 14th Amendment at Trump’s behest,” he continued.
“The Second? Isn’t that kind of load bearing ball of the ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ flag? he added.
He then told Republicans that guns are their “whole personality.”
“Guns are your Zoom backgrounds, your decorative lapel pins. Guns are how you show displeasure at documents. Guns are your Christmas cards,” he added.
He said conservatives have “jettisoned the entire integrity and belief of their political worldview, the entire foundation of it, for a guy who really doesn’t give a f—.”
Stewart then played a clip rom CNN in which Kaitlan Collins explained what Trump was posting on social media in the aftermath of Pretti’s death. Collins said that after the shooting, Trump complained about a lawsuit against the construction of the White House ballroom and criticized the NFL’s new kickoff format.
Stewart went on to say that Americans just want ”sane policies” amid the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown in Minneapolis.
“And to add insult to injury, is the denial of the reality that we all witnessed. They’re lying. We saw it, and that’s how brazen they lie when they know we’ve seen the truth. That’s how they lied when they know we know. Imagine how they lie when there’s no evidence to contradict them,” Stewart said.
“And maybe that, more than anything, explains why Alex Pretti really was a threat because he was brandishing a weapon, a handheld aluminum 10 ADP, 60 FPS, weapon of mass illumination, because there is nothing more dangerous to a regime predicated on lies than witnesses who capture the truth,” Stewart said, referring to Pretti holding a phone, not a gun, when he was killed.
Lauren Sforza; nj.com; (TNS) | ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
