July 30, 2022

Stewart has been on a tear against Republican senators after they blocked the PACT Act. It's a bill that makes veterans who have deployed to combat zones automatically eligible to receive VA health care and disability benefits for a number of conditions.

The bill had sailed through the Senate 84-14 in June, but had gone back to the House to remove what Roll Call called “an obscure tax provision” before being returned to the Senate this week where Republicans suddenly developed a problem with the bill. The timing of their “concern” was suspicious given that the vote came on the heels of Sens. Joe Manchin’s and Chuck Schumer’s deal to move forward on a big economic, climate and health care package without Republican votes.

Unfortunately for Cruz, he was caught on camera saying he hadn’t seen “actually quite funny” Stewart speak on the subject, then claimed he and “most senators” support the bill. Cruz then said he had voted against it because “the Democrats played a budgetary trick” of taking $400 billion in discretionary spending and making it mandatory.

Stewart called BS.

“He’s pretending that this is some new thing that the Democrats pulled out, stuck into the bill and snuck it past one Ted Cruz,” Stewart said. But “it’s always been mandatory spending so that the government can’t just cut off their funding at any point. No trick, no gimmick, been there the whole f***ing time.”

Stewart next riffed on conservative obsessions with Hunter Biden and pronouns.

Then he turned serious. “Don’t take my word for it,” he said, urging viewers to read the bill.

Stewart ended with footage of Cruz gushing his thanks to veterans, juxtaposed with him fist bumping his colleagues after voting against the bill.

Stewart had one more word for Cruz: “Motherf***er.”

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