The 90 minute exchange between the star of Comedy Central’s ‘The Daily Show’ and the controversial Fox News anchor took place at the George Washington University and was live-streamed for a small fee.
The seemingly odd-couple argued good-naturedly about ‘The War on Christmas,’ the 47 percent, Presidents past and present along with birth control. Stewart had a mechanical platform that he used to make himself appear taller than the height-gifted O’Reilly for crucial parts of the debate.
For over a decade, both men have disagreed on ideology and politics, but that hasn’t stopped either of them appearing on each other’s shows to joyfully shoot the other down in flames. However, this is the first time the men have sparred one on one.
Stewart took the viewpoint that the USA had always been a nation of entitlement, saying,
"We are a people that went to another country, saw other people on it and said, 'Yea, we want that."
"Have you ever seen 'Oprah's favorite things' episode?" he continued.
When asked who he'd like to see as President, O'Reilly slyly answered, "I'd have to say Clint Eastwood."
"Well why don't we ask him," said Stewart, mocking the actor's widely publicised speech at the Republican National Convention by getting out of his chair and staring at it, much to the amusement of the audience.
But at the end of the day, debates like this one are what keeps America a democracy, as O’Reilly told reporters after the event.
"The display that you saw tonight is why America is America. Robust, creative, no holds barred."
"You can call it whatever you want, but you wouldn't see this in a lot of other countries. That's for sure."
Written by Miranda Boyce
Copyright : Comedy Central New Zealand