There’s that familiar saying about people who live in glass houses, or, as the British say, “What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”
But “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart apparently doesn’t like it when the microscope is turned on him.
On Monday’s show, Stewart talked about the New York appellate court ruling that day slashing the bond former President Donald Trump would need to pay in his civil fraud case from $454 million to $175 million.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James had won a civil lawsuit against Trump in which she said he “grossly inflated” the value of his properties “to induce banks to lend money” to his company.
In the segment, Stewart issued a scathing attack on Trump and the notion that there were no victims in his case.
“The attorney general of New York knew that Trump’s property values were inflated because when it came time to pay taxes, Trump undervalued the very same properties,” he said. “It was all part of a very specific real estate practice known as lying.”
Stewart played a clip of “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary telling CNN’s Laura Coates that the massive judgment against the former president “didn’t go over well with the investment community” because all real estate developers use similar methods to evaluate their properties.
He then suggested O’Leary was a hypocrite for questioning entrepreneurs’ evaluations of their businesses on the ABC show.
“How is he not this mad about overvaluations in the real world?” the “Daily Show” host said. “Because they are not victimless crimes.”
“First, the banks got paid back at lower interest rates — although, to be honest, who gives a s***? But second, money isn’t infinite. A loan that goes to the liar doesn’t go to someone who’s giving a more honest evaluation,” Stewart said.
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that some viewers may find offensive.
Well, it turns out that Trump wasn’t the only one found to have inflated the value of his property.
“Jon Stewart benefited by 829% ‘overvalue’ of his NYC home even as he labels Trump’s civil case ‘not victimless,’” a New York Post headline declared Wednesday.
In 2014, Stewart sold his 6,280-square-foot Tribeca penthouse to financier Parag Pande for $17.5 million, the report said.
However, according to New York City property tax records from 2013-2014, the penthouse’s estimated market value was listed at just under $1.9 million. The assessed value used to calculate Stewart’s property taxes was even lower, at $847,174, according to the Post.
This means Stewart paid significantly lower property taxes based on that low-assessed valuation despite selling the home for over nine times the stated market value. Pande later resold the penthouse in 2021 at a 26 percent loss from what he paid Stewart, the report said.
Political commentator Tim Pool shared a story about the sale of Stewart’s house on social media, saying, “Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M? NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k. Who did he … defraud??”
“I am SHOCKED,” he wrote. “SHOCKED.”
Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M?
NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k
Who did he He defraud??
I am SHOCKED
SHOCKED pic.twitter.com/9okis96VQP
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) March 26, 2024
The “Daily Show” host was not happy at his hypocrisy being pointed out.
In the social media version of a perfect hissy fit, Stewart posted on X, “OMG!! I’ve been caught doing something not remotely similar to Trump! I guess all I need to do now is start a fraud college, steal classified docs, bankrupt casinos, pay hush money, grab p****es, discriminate in housing, cheat at golf and foment insurrection and you’ll revere me!”
Which sounded a lot like deflection disguised as indignation.
“Fraud. You got caught, you lied about the value of your property, will you turn yourself in? Nah..just a hypocrite then?” one X user aptly responded.
Fraud.
You got caught, you lied about the value of your property, will you turn yourself in?
Nah..just a hypocrite then?
— TheQuartering (@TheQuartering) March 27, 2024
Pro-Trump user Catturd answered Stewart’s diatribe with a single line: “Unfunny Hypocrite thief says what?”
Unfunny Hypocrite thief says what?
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) March 27, 2024
Pool also responded to the “Daily Wire” host’s post, saying, “My brother. You sold a property NY valued at 1.8M to someone for 17.5M and they lost 4M because of it, And you paid taxes on a valuation of 748k. ‘When it came time to pay taxes he undervalued his property.’”
He accurately pointed out that Stewart had done exactly what he was accusing Trump of doing — he benefited from lower taxes by undervaluing his property and then inflated the value when he sold it at well over 189 percent above the estimated market value.
The city property tax assessments that showed a vastly lower valuation for Jon Stewart’s penthouse compared with his $17.5 million sale price were the same types of assessments used by James in her civil case against the former president, according to the Post.
Do you think Jon Stewart deserves the backlash?
Throughout that case against Trump, the market values estimated by real estate professionals were not considered. Only the lower tax assessments were used as evidence of the true valuations.
For example, his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was assessed at just $18 million by tax authorities despite real estate brokers valuing it at around $900 million.
His Seven Springs estate in Westchester, New York, was assessed at between $30 million and $56 million, while Trump valued it at $261 million.
Based heavily on those tax assessments, Trump was ordered to pay $355 million by New York Judge Arthur Engoron in a ruling last month.
But while we’re on the topic of people benefitting from inflating the value of their property, let’s not forget President Joe Biden.
In 1996, Biden sold a house to one of his supporters for $1.2 million. Twenty-seven years later, the house was valued at just $1.6 million.
Did he inflate the value of his house when he sold it?
Biden would probably tell you that if his friend was willing to buy the house at the inflated value, there was no victim.
And something tells me Judge Engoron would agree with him.
