In an election which already features former reality star Donald Trump and his penchant for providing comedians with ammunition, a petition has popped up, gaining popularity, demanding former late night host Jon Stewart moderate a presidential debate.
Over 140,000 people have signed the petition since it was posted two weeks ago. It’s just 6,000 signatures away from being sent to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
The non-partisan organization was created in 1987 and has since organized many of the debates between Republican and Democratic candidates during general elections and – should they take the petition seriously – could at least ask Stewart if he’s willing to step into the role of moderator.
With the presidential election still over 14 months away, it’s still unclear who would be representing the two parties, but current polls show Hillary Clinton as the top Democrat and Donald Trump as the most popular Republican.
The petition cites Stewart’s long list of “qualifications,” which include interviewing “15 heads of state, 22 members of the United States Cabinet, 32 members of the United States Senate, 7 members of the United States House of Representatives, and scores of other political leaders from this country and around the world.”
Stewart won two Peabody Awards for his coverage of the presidential elections during his 16 years as host of The Daily Show, once in 2000 and again in 2004.
And he compares well in terms of trustworthiness to some news outlets. A 2014 study by the Brookings Institute found more people trusted Stewart than MSNBC, and among admitted liberals, his trustworthiness also beat CNN.
Stewart stepped down as host of The Daily Show earlier this month.
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