The Daily Show host Jon Stewart has explained why he thinks Greg Gutfeld is having such success on Fox News, while also saying conservatives are shooting themselves in the foot by targeting left-leaning media.

On the most recent episode of The Weekly Show podcast, Stewart answered various fan questions, including one about whether President Donald Trump could target TV shows “with a conservative bias.”

“Right now? No!” Stewart said, per Mediaite, before turning his attention to how the current head of the FCC, Brendan Carr, has been “s*** posting” about Stephen Colbert.

Last month, Colbert told his viewers that CBS had canceled The Late Show, which will air its final episode in May 2026. CBS cited financial reasons; however, others speculated that the decision was made due to Colbert’s criticism of Paramount’s recent settlement with President Trump. This comes amid Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance, which requires regulatory approval from the Trump administration.

“The partisan left’s ritualist wailing and gnashing of teeth over Colbert is quite revealing,” Carr posted on X in July. “They’re acting like they’re losing a loyal [Democratic National Committee] spokesperson that was entitled to an exemption from the laws of economics.”

Stewart told Weekly Show producer Brittany Mehmedovic that this celebration about the death of liberal media from Carr and others is illogical, noting how the success of conservative voices on TV shows and social media is due to their opposition to left-wing figures.

“That’s how Fox is popular,” Stewart stated. “That’s how any of these people, you know, they all talk about, [Greg] Gutfeld’s the most popular. Yeah. He’s not popular because he’s a both-sides guy. He’s not a fair use, like, the fairness doctrine says, like, he’s relentless. And, you know, after a day of watching Fox News and being bathed in their very purposeful propaganda, it’s a great way to top off the night.”

Despite airing on cable, Gutfeld! continues to dominate the late-night ratings wars, topping its broadcast rivals. For the second quarter of 2025, the Fox News show averaged 3.289 million viewers, compared to The Late Show with 2.417 million, Jimmy Kimmel Live! with 1.772 million, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with 1.188 million.

“The whole thing is f***ing ridiculous,” Stewart continued. “And if you look at the social media profiles of all the people that complain about the left-wing bias, they’re all right-wing influencers. They all make their money, their entire economy is based on how willing they are to attack and defame and to crush liberals.”

As for whether The Daily Show is in danger of a similar fate to The Late Show (Paramount is also the parent company of Comedy Central), Stewart recently said he doesn’t know, but he isn’t worried.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t heard anything from [Paramount]. They haven’t called me and said, ‘Don’t get too comfortable in that office, Stewart,’” he said on a recent episode of The Weekly Show. “But let me tell you something, I’ve been kicked out of s***tier establishments than that. We’ll land on our feet. I honestly don’t know.”