Tucker Carlson Re-Ignites Decades-Long Feud With Jon Stewart

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has re-ignited a decades-old feud with Jon Stewart after the former Daily Show host successfully shamed Republican lawmakers into passing the PACT Act.

Speaking on his show Thursday night, Carlson mocked Stewart's appearance after Stewart made the rounds on news networks trying to help pass bipartisan legislation to extend health care and disability benefits for U.S. veterans, joking that Stewart looks "like a guy who lives in the men's room at your public library, eating imaginary insects out of the air."

He then added, "That's Jon Stewart? The famous Jon Stewart looks like a homeless mental patient. He's shrieking and disheveled, and very short. Really short. Too short to date. Was he always that short? What happened, where's he been the last seven years?"

Tucker complains that Jon Stewart is too short to date pic.twitter.com/BTQdks0IaH

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 5, 2022

The Fox News host also referred to Stewart "unrecognizable" and "demented."

Stewart, who is five feet seven inches and has been married for over 20 years, responded in a now-viral tweet mocking Carlson for his obsession with the far-right authoritarian leader of Hungary, Viktor Orbán. Stewart wrote, "Friends. Tonite I am sad. @TuckerCarlson believes me too short to date…and yet somehow, miraculously, I remain tall enough to not know what Victor Orban’s ass tastes like! Is it goulash Tucky? Seems like it would be goulash."

Friends. Tonite I am sad. @TuckerCarlson believes me too short to date…and yet somehow, miraculously, I remain tall enough to not know what Victor Orban’s ass tastes like! Is it goulash Tucky? Seems like it would be goulash.

— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) August 5, 2022

The two hosts memorably first sparred eighteen years ago when Stewart appeared as a guest on CNN's Crossfire, which Carlson co-hosted with Paul Begala. It was then that Stewart famously accused the show and its hosts of "hurting America," adding, "You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you've failed miserably."

Carlson responded, "You need to get a job at a journalism school."

"You need to go to one," Stewart said back.

At one point in his Crossfire appearance, Stewart made fun of Carlson for wearing a bowtie, his signature look at the time.

"How old are you?" Stewart asked.

"35," Carlson replied.

"And you wear a bow tie?" Stewart said, adding, "Look, I'm not suggesting you aren't a smart guy, because those things are not easy to tie. But the thing is, you're doing theater when you should be doing debate. It's not honest."

In a callback to their 2004 scuffle, one Stewart supporter tweeted Friday, "Jon Stewart just secured bipartisan support to extend benefits to 3.5 million veterans. Tucker Carlson is still recovering from his 2004 encounter with Jon Stewart."

Jon Stewart just secured bipartisan support to extend benefits to 3.5 million veterans. Tucker Carlson is still recovering from his 2004 encounter with Jon Stewart. https://t.co/1wfn5gxENB

— Morten Øverbye (@morten) August 5, 2022

Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.