Adil Najam
UPDATE: Watch video clip from President Musharraf on ‘Daily Show’ here.
Most readers of this blog would already know that Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s President and Chief of Army Staff, will be in the United States in the second half of this month; i.e., soon. The key stops in the trip will be a speech at the United Nations General Assembly (Sep. 21), the launch of his autobiography (Sep. 25), a meeting with US President George Bush (Sep. 21 and later), and possibly another with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (Sep. 21 or 22). There will, of course, also be various community and think tank stops across the country.
Also see ATP poll on ‘Grading Gen. Musharraf’s Performance’. Updated story on his media engagements and book tour, here.
However, the stop I am looking most forward to is his appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (See here) – the late night ‘fake news’ comedy show on the cable TV channel Comedy Central, on September 26. It should be an interview to remember and I am not planning to miss it (actually, I try never to miss The Daily Show anyhow; see video clip below).
For those who are unfamiliar with the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning show (either because they do not live in the US or because they like to go to bed early) I can only say that it is a television news phenomenon like no other. Its fans call it the most (brutally) honest news show in America. Celebrities, and particularly politicians from all sides, see it as a must-do stop. And particularly in election season they fall over each other to get booked on it. All of this despite the fact that it is, by its own admission, a ‘fake’ news show, which takes great pleasure not only in making fun of politicians but also of ‘real’ news shows. The shows website describes it as being “even better than being informed… One anchor, five correspondents, zero credibility!”
Gen. Musharraf is quite savvy in dealing with the international media and his matter-of-fact way of speaking comes across well. He will, no doubt, make an interesting guest. But he may well meet his match in the blunt questioning in Jon Stewart.
Stewart is not known for polite questioning. Here, for example, is him interviewing former (and possibly future) US Presidential candidate and one of the most influential Republicans, Senator John McCain (can also be seen here):
The show is, in fact, irreverent to all sides. This is quite evident from this second video clip which relates to President Bush’s visit to India and Pakistan earlier this year (see related ATP Posts here and here). [For volatile South Asian emotions, please realize that this is a late-night comedy show, and the ‘expert’ being interviewed is a fake expert, making fun of self-styled ‘experts’ as much as anything else] (can also be seen here).
So, as you can imagine, it should be an interesting interview to watch; September 26.
The date, by the way, is not coincidental. It is the day after Gen. Musharraf’s autobiography – In the Line of Fire – will be launched. This highlights the importance of the show, as well as of this appearance. The publisher (Simon and Schuster) is keeping a very tight lid on the contents of the book until its launch and, surprisingly, not much of what is in the book has yet leaked out. So, we will have to wait till later for a review of its contents; meanwhile, see related op-ed by Hussain Haqqani, here.
Musharraf is brave!
Thanks Adnan for an interesting post. I used to watch regularly Jon Stewart’s show when there was presidential election in US. But long time I stopped, thanks for your post otherwise I would have missed an interesting talk between President Musharaf and him :-)
Since Musharraf is going to promote his book at the expense of national exchequer, will Pakistanis be getting a share of his income or book at the subsidised cost considering that its Pakistani tax payer’s money that is financing his tour.
I remember his video conference interview on CNN where he started his discussion by praising CNN for its balance and forthright reporting (who was he trying to impress?). The same strategy won’t get him much points on The Daily Show though I don’t think he gained any on CNN.
Teeth Maestro, irrespective of the validity of the deeper implications of your message, landing a spot on this particular show IS a big deal. In fact, for major politicians as well as for new book authors, a spot on Jon Stewart’s show is about as good as it can get. Because the humor here is ‘deadly serious’, the show has amongst the most loyal and politically informed audiences for any program in America.
In fact, when former US President Bill Clinton wrote his autobiography, one of his first stops was this show. Similarly, in recent US elections, the show has become a ‘must-do’ stop for major US politicians. In that sense, then, it is a coup for the book publishers and Gen. Musharraf will probably get a bigger, more interested but more skeptical audience on this show than in any of his other engagements in the US.
I agree the 26th Sept is now a must watch. But how ironic that the biggest supporter of the US after 9/11 can only land a spot on Comedy Central. It goes to show it might after all be just a joke.
Lets await and see what type of cross questioning transpires.