Stephen Colbert Gives Stewart Debating Pointers on “Daily Show”

On a day Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama were facing off for their first presidential debate, "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart was brushing up on his own debate skills in preparation for a showdown this weekend with political commentator Bill O'Reilly. Stephen Colbert was on hand to give Stewart a few helpful pointers.

Stewart and O'Reilly will take the stage at George Washington University Saturday in a political debate called "The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium."

Making a dramatic entrance on a wheeled podium pulled by two muscular men, Colbert assumed the role of a larger-than-life conservative pundit and gave Stewart some tips right off the bat.

“Jon, you’ve already made your first mistake,” Colbert said. “You allowed me to make a bigger entrance than you.”

Launching into a debate about American exceptionalism, Colbert jumped at the opportunity to plug his new book, “America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t,” which was praised by Stewart.

“You just lost Jon,” Colbert chided. “Never compliment your opponent.”

Stewart proceeded to make a few more debate fumbles, which included: agreeing with your opponent, and allowing your opponent to interrupt.

Admitting that he was “bad at this,” Stewart agreed to follow whatever training regimen Colbert prescribed.

Referencing two movies that illustrate the classic student-master relationship, Colbert’s debate prep regimen consisted of catching a chicken (“Rocky II”) and waxing a car (“The Karate Kid”).

“To defeat Bill O’Reilly you must first catch the bird, wax my car with this bird, then to absorb its soul … you must then make this bird into a Chick-fil-A sandwich,” Colbert proclaimed.

To see more of Colbert’s debating pointers, check out the clip below, courtesy of Comedy Central:
 

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