The real reason Stewart stopped by the show on Monday night was to express his concern about the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act which is yet to be extended.
- Dec 8, 2015
AceShowbiz - For the first time since leaving his post on "The Daily Show", Jon Stewart was back on the show Monday night, December 7. While his surprise appearance was welcome with thunderous applause from the audience, current host Trevor Noah appeared to not recognize him at first.
"I am sorry, Sir, are you lost?" Noah asked, before realizing that it's his predecessor Stewart. His excitement to have Stewart back, however, didn't last long as he asked, "Oh, wait, wait, wait, s**t. Are you here to take the show back?"
After assuring Noah that he's not there to take the show back, Stewart said, "I have this issue I care about very deeply and I was wondering-I want to get attention paid to it but I was realizing I don't have a show, and nobody gives a s**t anymore. So I thought, you have a show, and maybe I could come and..."
Once Noah allowed Stewart to use the show as a platform to support a cause he cares about, Stewart explained the issue, which is about the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act which expired in September and is yet to be extended.
"Of course there was no reason not to renew it permanently, but they did not renew it anyway!" Stewart said of the Zadroga Act, which aimed to help provide health care programs for 9/11 first responders. "It expired in September. Soon to be out of money, these first responders-many sick with cancers and pulmonary disease-had to travel at their expense to Washington, D.C., hundreds of times to plead for our government to do the right thing."
Stewart later conducted an interview with first responder Kenny Specht, who pointed out that 75 percent of the panel who appeared on the show five-and-a-half years ago "are no longer here."
Following Stewart's return to "Daily Show" in attempt to get this program passed as a permanent Act, the hashtag #WorstResponders has become a trending topic on Twitter.
