‘Daily Show’ Cancels On-The-Ground RNC Plans After Trump Assassination Attempt

Jon Stewart and the team from “The Daily Show” will be staying close to home during the Republican National Convention.

After planning to cover the event with a satirical lens in host city Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Comedy Central mainstay canceled its plans Sunday and noted the show would hold forth instead from its usual base in New York City. Monday’s broadcast of the show, typically hosted by Stewart, will not air, and the late-night series will pick up Tuesday through Thursday.

Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump appears to be the issue. A message posted via Instagram and X offered “apologies for the inconvenience,” citing “logistical issues and the evolving situation in Milwaukee” for a “need to reschedule our events on the ground in Wisconsin.” A spokeswoman for the show did not elaborate on the statement.

Original plans had called for a series of tapings from the city’s Marcus Performing Arts Center, with a live broadcast on Thursday, the convention’s final night. Seats for the show’s four planned RNC tapings were sold out, according to 1iota, a web-based ticketing service that many of TV’s late-night programs utilize to bring live audiences to tapings.

The “Daily Show” decision may raise pressure on several late-night programs to recalibrate their tone this week. CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” plans to broadcast live — in New York — on Thursday. And Fox News Channel had planned a week of live-in-Milwaukee broadcasts of the satirical roundtable program “Gutfeld” each evening during the RNC.

“The Late Show” also had plans to broadcast live from Chicago, the site of the Democratic National Convention, later in the summer. “The Daily Show” also has plans to visit Chicago for tapings during the event.