Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart on Wednesday ripped Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., after he blocked a measure providing compensation to 9/11 workers, saying the price tag was too high.
“Bret, this is about what kind of society we have,” a furious Stewart told Bret Baier during an appearance on Fox News. “At some point, we have to stand up for the people who have always stood up for us, and at this moment in time maybe cannot stand up for themselves due to their illnesses and their injuries. And what Rand Paul did today on the floor of the Senate was outrageous.”
Paul said he would offer an amendment on the cost of the bill, titled the Never Forget the Heroes Act, when it reaches the Senate floor.
Stewart last month spoke before the House Judiciary Committee on reauthorizing the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.
He said Paul’s reasoning wasn’t good enough.
“He is a guy who put us in hundreds of billions of dollars in debt,” he said of Paul. “And now he’s going to tell us that a billion dollars a year over 10 years is just too much for us to handle? You know, there are some things that they have no trouble putting on the credit card, but somehow when it comes to the 9/11 first responder community—the cops, the firefighters, the construction workers, the volunteers, the survivors — all of a sudden we’ve got to go through this.”