Jon Stewart grilled President Obama on his Comedy Central show "The Daily Show" three times, and on at least two occasions Stewart secretly met with the President at the White House, reported Politico. The comedian slipped unnoticed into the Oval Office first in October 2011 during the big budget fight of that year, and again in Feburary 2014 in the midst of the Ukraine and Russia crisis.
Stewart was escorted into the White House via the entrance where the public tours begin. He was then brought to the Oval Office for a one-on-one sit-down with the commander in chief, which he joked felt like being called to the principal's office.
Current and former White House officials confirmed the visits, describing them as efforts by the president and his communications team to tap into Stewart's influence with younger voters. "I can't say that because Jon Stewart was unhappy policy changed," former Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod said. "But I can say that he had forceful arguments, they were arguments that we knew would be heard and deserved to be answered."
Precisely what Stewart said to Obama in either of the two meetings is unclear, according to the New York Times, but the conversations seemed to be happy.
Earlier this month Obama made his third and final appearance on "The Daily Show," which ends on Aug. 6. The next host of the late night show will be Trevor Noah, who joined the show as a contributor in 2014, according to Comedy Central. "The Daily Show" with Trevor Noah is set to premiere on Sept. 28.
