Comedian Likens Senate to 'An Assisted Living Facility'
Comedian Jon Stewart does not have a high opinion of the United States Senate.
During an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Stewart spoke about his time in Washington, D.C., advocating for various causes.
Last year, he joined advocates in pushing for the passage of legislation to extend health benefits to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during their service.
He said his advocacy gave him a “great understanding of how things actually get done incrementally, and sometimes in one fell swoop.”
“Our country is held together by hundreds of really talented legislative aides,” Stewart said.
He added, “Their bosses, many times, are wind-up dolls… Half of it, if you go down there, especially the Senate, is like an assisted living facility.”
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The comedian continued, “It’s held together by these legislative aides who are relentlessly trying to do the right thing, and by the thousands of grassroot activists that are trying to get access.”
“And they’re blocked by a moat of lobbyists and moneyed interests that prevent the people in that building from doing the work that best benefits all the people outside of that building,” Stewart added.
He acknowledged there are some “honest brokers” in Congress, but they are surrounded by a “force field” of “not honest brokers.”
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) reportedly has a negative view of her Senate Democratic colleagues, who she described as “old dudes” who “are eating Jell-O.”
“Everyone is talking about how great they are,” she added.
She also dismissed Senate Democrats’ lunches as she said, “I don’t really need to be there for that. That’s an hour and a half twice a week that I can get back.”
“I spend my days doing productive work, which is why I’ve been able to lead every bipartisan vote that’s happened the last two years,” Sinema added.
According to Pew Research, the median age of a House lawmaker is 57.9 years.
Meanwhile, the median age in the Senate is 65.3 years.
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