Jon Stewart tore into Tucker Carlson in 2004

On air since 1982 Crossfire had long been billed as a forum for political debate, a means of informing the public and also holding politicians to account but Stewart and other commentators had started to accuse the show of devolving into “head-butting” and theatrics which they believed contributed to the deepening of political divisions and the creation of a distracted public. All of which only benefited the politicians and corporations who were then able to avoid being held to account by appealing to “their side” of the political aisle for support.

Clips of the interview went viral in a time before social media and when it was uploaded to the new video hosting site, YouTube, in January of 2006 it became one the platforms early hits.

In January 2005 Crossfire was canceled and Tucker Carlson’s contract with CNN wasn’t renewed. The network’s President said that Jon Stewart’s appearance had been a contributing factor. For his part Carlson said that he had already planned to leave and that he was merely seeing out his contract anyway. In June he hosted a show on MSNBC which often featured passionate but friendly debates with frequent panelist Rachel Maddow…which…seems incredible today.

Jon Stewart expressed a little bit of regret over the way he presented his arguments but otherwise has stood by his appearance.

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