Jon Stewart Says 'F*ck You' to Cramer; Update: Cramer Strikes Back

Posted by Jason Linkins and Nick Sabloff , Huffington Post at 11:55 AM on March 10, 2009.

Editor's note: Continue through to the end of this piece to read Cramer's response.

Jon Stewart, whose pointed takedown of the network CNBC last week has already become legendary, returned to the subject Monday in response to host Jim Cramer's complaint that he was taken out of context during the segment.

Stewart began by clarifying that the "Daily Show" had planned to air its epic dissection of CNBC's follies before the now infamous Rick Santelli was scheduled to appear on the program, as opposed to having done so in response to him canceling on that appearance.

In regards to Cramer, Stewart addressed the host's suggestion that the "Daily Show" had used a particular clip from his show "Mad Money" to make it look as if he had recommended buying Bear Stearns stock a week before it collapsed.

Stewart conceded the point to Cramer, saying with mockery, "I apologize, that was out of context, technically you were correct, you weren't suggesting to buy Bear Stearns." But wait: "That was something you did five days earlier, in your buy and sell segment."

Roll the clip!

Erin Burnett and Jim Cramer made an appearance on the TODAY Show Tuesday morning, filled with much the same rote nonsense that you hear on the TV every day. How can President Obama, as President, dare to do more than one thing at a time? There are too many bills for Erin Burnett to read, in between reality show appearances. And Jim Cramer just can't understand how a number of issues all dovetail with the economy. Seriously, watch this guy as he mocks the stem cell research order, because sure, there's no way at all that scientific innovations might impact the economy at all! There's no "stem cell research" button on the set of Mad Money that makes a fart noise. SHREWD INVESTORS TAKE NOTE, I GUESS.

Naturally, the ongoing war of japery between Cramer and Daily Show host Jon Stewart came up:

JIM CRAMER: A comedian's attacking me! Wow! He runs a variety show!

MEREDITH VIEIRA: Okay, but you know what he's saying about you, that you advised investors to buy Bear Stearns. You said you were taken out of context.

CRAMER: On October 6th, 2008, I came on this show and did something you're never supposed to do if you have a stock show. I said people should sell everything. That was thirty-five percent ago. Whatever he says about Bear Stearns, this or that, that was a call that should have wrecked my career, and it would have if the market had gone up.

Anyway, Meredith Vieira makes Cramer watch last night's riff on the Daily Show, and, in exquisitely uncomfortable side-by-side boxes, you get to watch Cramer react.

VIEIRA: Did you make a mistake?

CRAMER: Did I make a mistake? Anytime you recommend a stock and it goes down you've made a mistake. Here's a shocker, almost every stock is down. Almost any stock you recommended is bad. Warren Buffett, I could run tapes that would make him look like a fool. This is a terrible market, which is why I told people to sell.

And if every investor had been listening to Jim Cramer, how would the Dow look?

Anyway, Cramer and Burnett, sizing up the crisis in banking and with the auto companies, recommend that nobody do anything. It's a little weird to hear them suggest that it's just TOO MUCH for the administration to work on health care when their advice on the banking crisis is to "forbear" and wait for everything to work itself out.

Jesus, and then this: responding to Warren Buffett's warning that the economy is "headed off a cliff" and that the Dow could fall to 5,000, Cramer bleats: "I think the administration should attack Warren Buffett, instead of the little guys who come on TV and say that the averages are down a lot. Why don't they go after him?"

To which Viera queried, "Little guys ... like Jim Cramer?"

Watch it:

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Tagged as: daily show, jon stewart, cnbc, economic crisis, rick santelli, jim cramer

Jason Linkins is an associate editor at the Huffington Post, based in Washington, DC.