Maria Ressa, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of “How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” appeared as a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where she addressed the alarming state of free speech in the United States under the Trump administration. Her comments came just days after ABC suspended comedian Jimmy Kimmel. This decision sparked a wave of intense outrage and concern, igniting a wider dialogue on press freedom and government control over media.
In her interview, Ressa shared her disbelief at the speed with which U.S. institutions have crumbled under Donald Trump. She lamented the alarming similarities between Trump’s administration and that of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. The other side of that coin, as she pointed out, was how both leaders used those tactics to attack democratic norms and silence dissent.
Ressa highlighted what she termed a “dictator’s playbook,” drawing a stark comparison between Trump’s attacks on alleged Venezuelan drug boats and Duterte’s aggressive crackdown on drug-related crime in the Philippines.
“If you don’t move and protect the rights you have, you lose them. And it’s so much harder to reclaim them.” – Maria Ressa
Ressa’s insights are particularly resonant in light of Kimmel’s recent suspension, which many believe was a move to appease the Trump administration following his critical comments about the MAGA reaction to the murder of political commentator Charlie Kirk. Unfortunately, this incident has been the catalyst for calls for a boycott of Disney, ABC’s parent company. Critics—including some at PBS—are accusing the network of capitulating to political pressure.
In her interview with Stewart, Ressa characterized Americans as “deer in the headlights. And they appear helpless in the face of the quick erosion of free expression and democratic institutions. She stressed the need for increased and sustained scrutiny and activism to defend these rights. This conviction has been the common thread through her career.
Ressa’s fight for freedom of expression has drawn worldwide attention. She fought bravely against the forces of authoritarianism in the Philippines and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her work. Her call for proactive measures against threats to democracy serves as a warning to audiences worldwide about the fragility of freedom.
Jon Stewart, who originally left The Daily Show in 2015, returned part-time in 2024, providing a platform for critical discussions on pressing societal issues. His interview with Ressa underscores how critical media is to our fight to defend free expression. This relevance is especially apparent in such turbulent political times.
As a journalist, Ressa never stopped fighting for human rights and press freedom. Her reflections are a powerful call to all of us to defend democratic values from encroaching authoritarianism.