President Joe Biden made headlines for a visit to New York City on Monday after stopping in an ice cream shop and being asked about the state of the military conflict between Israel and Hamas.
But his answer isn’t what bothered “The Daily Show” senior correspondent and Tuesday’s guest host Michael Kosta — it was his lack of regard for the establishment’s sneeze guard.
Pulling up a video of the president, 81, approaching the ice cream counter and lifting both his arms up to rest and lean over the sneeze guard to peer into the flavors, Kosta admonished the move as “pretty disgusting.”
“Dude! The sneeze guard is there for a reason!” he said before getting to his real zinger: “Republicans are right — Biden doesn’t really respect borders. Impeach! Impeach!”
Clearly said in jest, Kosta followed that up with some shade for his much buzzed-about cohost, “Daily Show” vet Jon Stewart, who came under fire upon returning to the Comedy Central series and raising concerns over Biden’s age.
“Although I will say I am impressed by how flexible his shoulders are — I didn’t think he could do that,” Kosta said of the president’s ability to rest his arms on the counter. “Based on what I heard from Jon Stewart, you would think his arms would just fall right off.”
The episode-opening monologue began with Kosta breaking down the full scene in the ice cream shop, which saw Biden being asked about the timeline of a cease-fire in Gaza while he was mid-bite on a cone.
“Well, I hope by the beginning of the weekend, I mean the end of the weekend. My national security advisor tells me that we’re close, we’re close,” Biden said in the viral clip.
“Not the most dignified way to deliver world-changing news. It does remind me of the photo of Obama’s team watching that Bin Laden raid while making balloon animals,” Kosta joked of the interaction. “Now, in Joe Biden’s defense, he had the ice cream first. It’s not like they asked him about Gaza and he said, ‘Hold on, if we’re going to talk about war, I’ve got to get a mint chip.’ No, he was in an ice cream store about to eat ice cream, and some reporter jumped in and said, ‘What about Gaza?’”
The host added dryly: “This is why I don’t think we should have a free press.”
“Personally, I don’t think anyone should be asked about Israel-Palestine while they’re eating ice cream. I thought that was, like, an unwritten rule,” he continued. “I’m holding a tiny, cylinder topped with a giant, misshapen dairy blob that immediately starts melting on all sides. I’ve got one tiny little napkin for some reason. You think Israel-Palestine is a crisis? I’m dealing with something here!”
Watch the full “Daily Show” segment in the video above.
