Comedian Jon Stewart on Monday went after Hunter Biden, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and former President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in a segment on money in politics on “The Daily Show.”
Stewart began the segment by talking about the current legal troubles of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who is facing federal bribery and obstruction charges.
He then pivoted to note that there are many legal ways that politicians and government figures can enrich themselves and their families via their positions, including via stocks and using influence to support their family’s careers and finances, citing Biden, Pelosi and Kushner as examples of figures he said have done so.
“Robert Menendez’s gold bars in exchange for favorable legislation is obviously cartoonishly corrupt, but for anyone out there who thinks the status quo of government patronage and influence is of an entirely different species than Menendez, how dumb is you?” Stewart said, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
Pelosi previously faced criticism back in 2022 over her husband, Paul Pelosi, selling up to $5 million in shares of a chipmaker prior to the lower chamber getting ready to vote on a bill focused on the domestic chip manufacturing industry.
Aaron Bennett, a spokesperson for Pelosi, said in an emailed statement to The Hill Tuesday that the former Speaker “does not own any stocks, and she has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.”
Another spokesperson for Pelosi previously told The Hill when asked about the timing of Paul Pelosi selling the shares that “Mr. Pelosi bought options to buy stock in this company more than a year ago and exercised them on June 17, 2022.”
“As always, he does not discuss these matters with the Speaker until trades have been made and required disclosures must be prepared and filed. Mr. Pelosi decided to sell the shares at a loss rather than allow the misinformation in the press regarding this trade to continue,” Drew Hammill added.
The younger Biden has received criticism for potentially getting a seat on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma via his family name, while Kushner, who advised Trump on the Middle East, has faced scrutiny for securing a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia only a few months after exiting public service.
The Hill has reached out to Kushner, Menendez and Biden for comment.
—Updated at 4 p.m.