A familiar face returned to The Daily Show on Monday night to keep the Donald Trump-Jeffrey Epstein story going. Correspondent Jessica Williams was back on Comedy Central to tell Jon Stewart all about a new conspiracy she's uncovered.
Williams left The Daily Show as a full-time correspondent in 2016. She's made brief cameos in the years since, but has primarily been focused on her work in series such as Shrinking and the Fantastic Beasts film franchise. However, the Trump-Epstein headlines inspired Williams to come back to late-night and expose Trump's latest distraction strategy.
“Trump is trying to throw every Black person he can think [of] in front of the scandal to distract us,” Williams told Stewart. “First, he released the Martin Luther King Jr. files. Then he accused Obama of treason. And now he wants to prosecute Oprah and Beyoncé?”
Williams' theory came on the heels of President Trump's social media post suggesting that Beyonce, Oprah, and Kamala Harris should all be prosecuted. According to the president's theory, celebrities were illegally compensated to endorse Harris in the 2024 election.
The conspiracy got personal when Williams wondered if she was next on Trump's list. The actress believes she's plenty famous enough to be a target. "Excuse me?," Williams joked. "He won’t come after me? What, I’m not an exceptional enough Black person for Trump? I’m not famous enough to be publicly accused of treason or doing 9/11. You don’t know where I was that day. You don’t know me. I’m sorry, but I’m nominated for an Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Comedy.”
The Daily Show calling in fan-favorite Jessica Williams to do a Trump-Epstein bit is another example of late-night's relentless coverage of the story. The Tonight Show, The Late Show, and Late Night all led off Monday night discussing the president's connections to Epstein and how questions continue to mount about their shared past.
As Williams pointed out, Trump's strategy of distractions and dismissals has continued. But the more Trump attempts to distance himself from Epstein, the more late-night TV sinks its teeth in. And if the theory that Trump influenced Paramount's decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is true, maybe Williams' conspiracy that she could be a target isn't too far off. At the very least, The Daily Show could be on the chopping block. Just don't expect the show and Jon Stewart to back down from the story.
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