Comedy Central
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert caught Duck Dynasty fever Thursday.
On The Daily Show, Stewart conceded he agreed with the general Fox News take on the controversy surrounding Phil Robertson, who made anti-gay remarks in an interview with GQ.
Fox News commentators such as Sean Hannity have defended the Duck Dynasty patriarch on free speech and religious rights grounds.
"Look, I think what the guy said is ignorant, but I also have an inclination to support a world where saying ignorant shit on television doesn’t get you kicked off that medium," Stewart said. "I guess I stand with the free speech absolutists at Fox News, who don't believe you should pressure people to have to adhere to cultural norms of speech. Mostly."
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Stewart then played years' worth of file footage of Fox News commentators and guests complaining about the so-called War on Christmas -- specifically about people refusing to use the word Christmas in schools and government buildings.
"Their belief in free speech doesn't extend to the holidays, when the word 'Christmas' is mandatory," he said.
On The Colbert Report, Colbert donned a fake beard and declared, "Tonight we are all Phil Robertson."
Colbert read one of Robertson's GQ quotes: "It seems like, to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man's anus. That's just me. I'm just thinking: There's more there!"
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"It's not the eloquent speech you might expect from a backwoods Louisiana bird murderer, but he does have a point. The vagina does have 'more there,' " Colbert said.
Noting Robertson's supporters are defending him on religious grounds, Colbert read from a fake Bible verse: "Man shall not live on bread alone because with the vagina there's more there."
He also singled out Robertson's comments about the Jim Crow era, in which the Duck Dynasty star said African-Americans were happy and not "singing the blues."
"Black people had nothing to sing the blues about. For Pete's sake, they had their own water fountains!" Colbert said. Showing a picture of an actor in blackface, he added: "They had it so good, white people pretended to be them."
Colbert concluded by saying he feels sorry for Duck Dynasty network A&E.
"With this controversy, they may have lost Duck Dynasty's massive black and gay audience."
Robertson has been placed on indefinite hiatus from the hit series, which regularly draws 9-million-plus viewers. On Thursday night, Robertson's costars issued a statement saying they "cannot imagine" continuing without him and that the family is in discussions with A&E about the future of the series.
Email: Aaron.Couch@THR.com
Twitter: @AaronCouch