A few days earlier (May 5), Stewart hosted a comedy show for US military members at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. During his brief remarks, he brought up Trump:

“Trump’s gonna keep you busy when he’s commander in chief,” Stewart told the crowd. “You’re gonna have to repaint all the planes with ‘Trump’ in big gold letters.”

While Stewart may be slowly returning to form, those hoping for a Daily Show-style comeback are going to be disappointed. Instead, Stewart’s HBO project is likely to focused on bite-sized segments disseminated through HBO’s online platforms. It will allow the comedian to do what he does best without the burden of appearing on late-night television for a half-hour every night. Given America’s changing media habits, that’s probably a smarter approach anyway.

“The one thing I want to make clear to people is—when you’re not on television, you’re still alive,” Stewart told Axelrod. “You’re still engaged in the world. And I feel maybe more engaged with the world in a real way now, than I ever did sitting on television interviewing politicians.”

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