Jon Stewart on tech moguls at Trump inauguration: 'Are we just open-source Illuminati now?'

Comedian Jon Stewart on Monday criticized the appearance of tech moguls at President Trump’s inauguration.

“Yes, taking the place of seats normally reserved for Democratic or Republican governors, sat Zuck, Bezos, Tim Cook, Elon, Tic Tac guy, Google guy, the six guys who control maybe 20 percent of the world's wealth and 100 percent of your nudes,” Stewart said of the inauguration on “The Daily Show.”

“Shouldn't this gathering be happening in a volcano's lair near Zurich, or are we just open source Illuminati now?” he added later. “Where’s the conspiracy fun in that?”

Tech leaders including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were at the Capitol Rotunda on Monday for Trump’s inauguration.

During Trump’s first term, having such a group so close to the president would have been unusual. Nine years ago, many of the group had voiced concerns about Trump’s rise in politics.

“Honestly, there is not a useful app of communication not controlled by at least one of these individuals,” Stewart said Monday. “And you may not be concerned that they've all ponied up a million dollars to be sitting there and are kissing the a-- of a president who openly threatens non-a-- kissers, but trust me, s---’s gonna get weird.”

During former President Biden’s farewell address, he expressed worry about an “oligarchy” of “extreme wealth, power and influence” coming together in the U.S. The former president did not name-check Trump or billionaires he is close with. However, he did note Meta’s ending of its fact-checking program.

The Hill has reached out to Tesla, Google, Apple, TikTok, Amazon, Meta and the White House for comment.

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