Jon Stewart Responds To Reports He Had “Secret” Meetings With President Obama At The White House

by Olivia Truffaut-WongJuly 30, 2015, 3:03 amNews, News Feed >

Jon Stewart reportedly met with President Barack Obama at the White House on two separate occasions for what have been described as “secret” visits.

Jon Stewart Had Two Private Meetings With President Obama

It was reported this week that Stewart visited Obama at the White House twice over the years. According to initial reports, the first visit occurred in October of 2011, when officials snuck Stewart into the Oval Office to have a private meeting with the President. The second didn’t occur until February of 2014, according to White House visitor logs.

While the content of the meetings remain unknown, it has been reported that Obama requested the meetings and that they lasted about an hour. Many reports suggest that the President requested such meetings to learn from Stewart’s incredible influence in pop culture and media.

“Jon Stewart was a key influencer for millennials. They relied on him for an honest take on the news, and the president and senior staff know that,” said former White House employee Dag Vega, who worked to develop relationships between the White House and the media.

In the original report by Politico, writer Darren Samuelsohn wrote that the President used both meetings as an opportunity to “sell the administration’s ideas.”

However, Stewart’s two meetings with the President at the White House aren’t evidence of a political allegiance to the Democrats, but rather proof of his undeniable influence. “That’s just too easy,” said former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele of the idea of placing Stewart squarely in either party.

“It’s a throwaway. If you go down that road you miss the impact if not the importance that he has had on political dialogue in this country, that he’s had on policymakers,” Steele added.

Obama recently appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to take part in his seventh and final Daily Show interview.

Jon Stewart Responds To Reports Of “Secret” Meetings

Stewart did not comment on the meetings initially, but did joke about the reports during a brief appearance on The Nightly Show on Tuesday night. “I don’t know if they were secret. I’m in the visitor log. And they took pictures of the meeting,” Stewart told host Larry Wilmore as Photoshopped images of him and the President appeared onscreen.

After making a few jokes, Wilmore asked Stewart seriously if he thought the President was trying to influence his work. “That’s a little dangerous. Isn’t that a little bit irresponsible?” Wilmore asked.

“Well, no, I think that’s what he was trying to do. Because I have a television show and we sometimes say stupid…things about him and his policies,” Stewart responded.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.