NEW YORK — Comic Jon Stewart used his buddy Stephen Colbert’s late-night show to keep the heat on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for passage of legislation to replenish a victims fund for first responders to the 9/11 attacks.
Stewart mocked McConnell on Colbert’s “Late Show” Monday, even though the Senate leader said earlier that the issue would be addressed. Stewart demanded greater urgency.
A longtime advocate for police and firefighters who worked after the attacks, Stewart is taking a biting lobbying effort to platforms that McConnell isn’t necessarily used to.
The former host of “The Daily Show” testified last week at a public hearing on a bill that would ensure the fund can pay benefits for 70 years. He scolded legislators who had not shown up. He turned his attention to McConnell, appearing over the weekend with Chris Wallace on Fox.