Jon Stewart to return to The Daily Show for 2024 US presidential election

Jon Stewart will return to host the satirical comedy series The Daily Show during the 2024 US presidential election for one day a week.

Announcing the 61-year-old American comedian’s comeback to the show that launched him as a global name, Comedy Central said he “is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit”.

In 1999, Stewart took over the comedy show, also featuring an interview segment with guests from the showbiz and political worlds, from Craig Kilborn and ran it for 16 years, scooping heaps of Emmys.

The Daily Show has been without a regular host since the departure of South African comedian Trevor Noah in December 2022 and Stewart will host every Monday – with a rotating line-up for the rest of the week.

Chris McCarthy, president and chief executive of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, said: “Jon Stewart is the voice of our generation, and we are honoured to have him return to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to help us all make sense of the insanity and division roiling the country as we enter the election season.

“In our age of staggering hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit.”

Stewart, who has also won Emmys for his less comedic current affairs series The Problem With Jon Stewart, which was cancelled last year by Apple TV+, will also executively produce The Daily Show.

The Comedy Central show has seen British comedian John Oliver, comedian Samantha Bee, The Office star Steve Carell and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert among its contributors.

Stewart will return to the show on February 12.