Jon Stewart Stands Up for ‘Egypt’s Jon Stewart’ After Arrest

Bassem Youssef, the famous Egyptian TV host and influential political satirist who is known as “Egypt’s Jon Stewart,” was arrested over the weekend on charges that he insulted Mohamed Morsi and Islam. (As the real Jon Stewart noted, “if insulting the president and Islam were a jailable offense here … Fox News go bye bye!”) Youssef was interrogated and later released on bail, but the whole episode didn’t sit too well with “The Daily Show” host. On his program Monday night, Stewart passionately defended Youssef while slamming the Egyptian president.

“So Bassem Youssef pokes fun at your hat and your lack of promised democratic reforms,” Stewart said. “What are you worried about? You’re the president of Egypt. You have an army. He has puns and a show. You have tanks and planes — we should know, we still have the receipts. Look, silencing a comedian doesn’t qualify you to be president of Egypt, just president of NBC.”

Watch both parts below:

— Posted by Tracy Bloom.