- Jon Stewart lashed out at lawmakers who blocked the PACT Act, a veterans healthcare bill.
- On Sunday, Stewart said lawmakers sometimes forget to "work for the people."
- Stewart said lawmakers are "insolated and isolated" from the real people impacted by laws.
Jon Stewart said lawmakers sometimes forget to "work for the people."
"They're so insulated and isolated from the real people whose lives are effected by these various provisions," Stewart told NBC New's "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd.
He added: "Government by the people, of the people, yes, but the clause they always seem to forget is for the people."
Stewart, a comedian and veterans advocate has been calling for congress to pass the PACT Act, a bill which would have expanded access to health care for veterans exposed to burn pits and toxic contaminants.
He's been a vocal proponent for healthcare for veterans and in 2019 gave an emotional speech to Congress where he spoke about how he and 9/11 first responder Ray Pfeifer knocked on doors to speak to lawmakers who dodged their questions or turned them away.
On Friday, Stewart lashed out at GOP Sen. Ted Cruz on Twitter over the healthcare bill. Cruz, of Texas, was one of several GOP lawmakers seen fist-bumping after the bill was blocked.
Cruz said he supports the bill but disputed Democrats "playing a budgetry trick," by taking "$400 billion in discretionary spending and shifted it to mandatory spending."
Stewart replied and said there was no trick.
"Everything in the government is either mandatory or discretionary spending depending on which bucket they feel like putting it in. The whole place is basically a fucking shell game," Stewart said. "And, he's pretending that this is some new thing that the Democrats pulled out, stuck into the bill and snuck it past one Ted Cruz."
Poking fun at Cruz, Stewart added: "Now, I'm not a big city Harvard educated lawyer, but I can read. It's always been mandatory spending."
On Sunday, Stewart told Todd that he's seen the real people impacted by these provisions.
"I've been with them for four years fighting through this. I've seen them through their defeats and their victories. But here's the other thing, I've seen them die," Stewart said.
He added that he's seen veterans who were sick who died while fighting to pass this bill. Stewart said that while these veterans were "sick, utterly incapacitated by the injustices and illness that they've been dealing with," they decided to spend their "last precious times" fighting so that other veterans don't have to deal with the same things.
