Jon Stewart's September 11th First Responders Speech

Submission 4,241

Part of a series on September 11th, 2001 Attacks. [View Related Entries]

About

Jon Stewart's September 11th First Responders Speech is a testimony made by comedian and former late-night host Jon Stewart to a House Judiciary subcommittee meeting about reauthorizing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. The fund, which needs to be renewed by Congress, would provide medical care for those with sustained injury or medical conditions as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. These include the first responders who helped escort people to safety during the attack. Stewart's plea went viral as many agreed with his sentiment that those in need of medical care from 9/11 should receive it.

Origin

On June 11th, 2019, Jon Stewart delivered testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee about reauthorizing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.^[1] In his speech, Stewart lambasted both the congressional members who appeared at the subcommittee and those who declined to hear his testimony. His impassioned criticism included descriptions of the types of medical necessities for those who provided aid at the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks (shown below).

During his speech, Stewart said, "Accountability doesn’t appear to be something that occurs in this chamber…I'm sorry if I sound angry and undiplomatic, but I am angry, and you should be too." The tweet received more than 3,600 likes and 775 retweets in one week (shown below, left).

Spread

Following Stewart's testimony, people online shared the video and praised him for his candor. Actress Kellie Martin tweeted,^[2] "Thank you #FirstResponders and thank you for speaking up Jon Stewart. Please watch this." The tweet received more than 3,600 likes and 775 retweets in one week (shown below, left). Twitter^[3] user @TheBMartin tweeted, "Bless Jon Stewart. Regardless of what you think of his politics or thought of his TV show, this should be a nonpartisan bill supported by everyone. Beyond embarrassing for our country." The tweet received more than 2,000 likes and 400 retweets in less than two weeks (shown below, center). Author Kevin Levin tweeted,^[4] "Thank you, Jon Stewart. These are the people who attempted to rescue my cousin on 9-11." Within two weeks, the tweet received more than 900 likes and 145 retweets in less than two weeks (shown below, right). That day, Twitter^[5] published a Moments page on video.

On June 17th, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responded to Jon Stewart's testimony on Fox News. During an episode of the Fox & Friends morning show, McConnell said, "I don't know why [Stewart's] all bent out of shape, but we will take care of the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund."

That evening, Stewart appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. During his appearance, he responded to McConnell's "bent out of shape" comment. He said, "I'm 'bent out of shape' for them. These are the first heroes and veterans and victims of the great trillions of dollars war on terror, and they're currently still suffering and dying and in terrible need[…]You would think that that would be enough to get Congress's attention, but apparently, it's not." Within 24 hours, the post received more than 2 million views (shown below, right).

Several media outlets covered the speech and reaction, including USA Today,^[6] CNN,^[7] The Guardian,^[8] The LA Times,^[9] Vulture^[10] and more.