Jon Stewart knocks Fox News hosts over free speech ‘victimhood’

Comedian Jon Stewart ripped several leading Fox News hosts Monday for what he said is insincere rhetoric on issues of free speech.

“The idea that there is an all-pervasive, all-powerful threat to free speech called ‘cancel culture’ has become a central tenet of modern conservatism,” Stewart said on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

“They celebrate their being silenced at conferences. They celebrate their being silenced on podcasts and streaming outlets. They celebrate their being silenced with over 700 book titles about being canceled.”

Stewart played clips of statements and segments focusing on free speech from top Fox shows featuring hosts Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters and Laura Ingraham.

“Conservatives have an entire industry devoted to complaining about not being allowed to say the things they say all the time,” he said. “Their victimhood is the entire brand.”

Fox routinely ranks as the most-watched cable news channel, and many of their hosts and pundits spark pushback and condemnation from Democrats and media watchdogs with their commentary on politics, culture and current events.

On issues relating to free speech, Stewart said top hosts on Fox, as well as some leading voices on the left, are manufacturing outrage.

“We are surrounded by and inundated with more speech than has ever existed in the history of communication,” he said.

“And it is all weaponized by professional outrage-hunters of all stripes scouring the globe for graduation speech snippets, offhand comments during promotional tours, out of context comedy bits, lame marketing ideas, or any words and phrases they believe they can latch onto to generate, monetize clicks.”

Stewart recently returned to hosting “The Daily Show” one night a week following a stint hosting a similar talk program on Apple TV.

The Hill reached out to Fox News for comment.