Monday 1 August 2022 10:33 PM Biden thanks Jon Stewart for pushing veteran burn pit bill that was sunk by ... trends now

Jon Stewart demonstrated in front of the Capitol on Monday to urge senators to pass legislation providing more funding for veterans who had been exposed to toxic burn pits after President Joe Biden called him to thank him for his advocacy.

Stewart issued another explective-filled rant at the lawmakers, who, last week, he referred to as 'motherf***ers.' 

'I get it. I am a liberal piece of s***,' Stewart shouted outside the front stairs of the Capitol building. 'I know that I am I'm Hunter Biden's cocaine dealer.'

'But the VFW and the American Legion and the IAVA isn't and DAV isn't and the Wounded Warriors project isn't. So why are they standing here? You can attack me all you want. And you can troll me online,' he added.

'But here's the beautiful thing. I don't give a s***. I'm not scared of you. And I don't care. These are the people that I owe a debt of gratitude to and we all say gratitude to and it's about time we start paying it off,' he said.

He called on the Senate to stay in session until the legislation - which already has been approved by the House - was passed.

'I don't know if you know this, but they're allowed to stay open past five o'clock. They're not a public library. They're allowed to stay open past five,' he said of the senators. 'When you come back, if all the members aren't here, keep the lights on. Keep the doors open. And don't leave here tonight.'

Stewart and Democrats were furious last week after Republicans voted against moving forward with the veterans bill in the legislative process.

Biden also weighed in from his covid-isolation, sending Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough to Capitol Hill with boxes of pizza on Saturday to cheer them on. 

The president faced-time with many of the activists, including Stewart, to thank them. 

Biden has said in the past he believes his son Beau Biden was exposed to toxic burn pits during his tour of duty in Iraq and that it contributed to the brain cancer than killed him in 2015.

'I'd planned to stop by the Capitol and visit families fighting to pass burn pits legislation. COVID got in the way,' Biden tweeted on Saturday, the same day he tested positive for a rebound case of covd. 

'So I FaceTimed them and sent some pizza. It’s our sacred obligation to care for our veterans. I won’t stop fighting alongside them to get this bill passed,' he added, including a video of him speaking with the activists, who have been camped out on the Capitol stairs.