Jon Stewart calls out Democrats’ ‘gag reflex’ when they agree with RFK Jr. or Elon Musk on certain issues

Comedian Jon Stewart questioned how Democrats walk the “tightrope” when they agree with the other side on certain issues, saying during his show on Friday that there’s a gag reflex when they agree with RFK Jr. on certain issues.

“How do you walk that tightrope? Because what I find is there is a gag reflex from, and I think both parties have it, a gag reflex on Robert Kennedy says ultra processed foods are killing Americans, and I’m like, ‘yeah, God awful. That’s got to change,’” Stewart said during an interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT.

Stewart spoke to Sanders during “The Weekly Show,” during which the progressive senator said he wanted to work with Republicans when they say “good and appropriate things.”

“But if you were to say that, boy, are you just dog piled. How can you agree with Robert Kennedy Jr on anything? He’s this and that. Elon Musk says we’ve got waste and inefficiency in the government, and we’re like, ‘yeah, we’ve been yelling about that for years,’ and as soon as we do that, ‘how can you? How dare you?’ It’s really interesting.”

RFK JR. CALLS FOR REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM DRINKING WATER, SPARKING DEBATE

Sanders said he was holding a hearing about the labels on food products.

“You know what I’m holding a hearing on tomorrow? To demand to know why the commissioner of the FDA has not, in fact, at least gone forward with strong labels to warn the American people about the nature of the food that they are eating, which is leading to obesity, which is leading to diabetes. We have been absolutely irresponsible,” Sanders said. “Kennedy is right on that issue.”

Sanders said he disagreed with RFK Jr.’s proposal to remove fluoride from drinking water. 

“So you’re saying, how do you walk that line? Well, that is exactly what we are trying to figure out right now,” Sanders said. 

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“Look, the system that we’re currently operating in, senator, you’ve got food companies that have scientists that are working to design foods to get past the chemicals in your brain that tell you to stop eating, to get past those defenses, which creates diabetes and obesity. And then you have the pharmaceutical companies who come in and say, well, here, here’s Ozempic, and here’s Mounjaro. And now we’re caught in this bananas cycle where these corporations are just profiting off of our incredibly poor health outcomes,” Stewart said. 

Sanders told Stewart he’s heard from scientists who have said the food advertised on television is “addictive.”

“Has the government acted in any way with the urgency that is needed? Of course, it has not. So Kennedy is right on that issue. But your point, how we deal with that – plus, the crazy stuff that he’s saying is exactly what I’m trying to figure out,” Sanders said.