Daily Show host Jon Stewart says Obama 'called me an a**hole'

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Comic hit back at speculation over his two 'secret' visits to Washington
Held talks behind closed doors with President Obama in 2011 and 2014
Says they were 'openly listed' and he used regular White House entrance
Told viewers media portrayal was 'so much more awesome' than reality

Published: 06:36 EST, 30 July 2015 | Updated: 12:04 EST, 30 July 2015

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Jon Stewart has hit back at media speculation over his two 'secret' visits to the White House, joking president Obama told him he was an 'a**hole' on the trips.

The host of The Daily Show, who will finish his 17-year run on the show next week, held talks behind closed doors with the president in 2011 and 2014 after being summoned by his aides.

On Wednesday's edition of the show, he told viewers the media portrayal of the meetings as clandestine 'basically sounds so much more awesome than what happened'.

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John Stewart ridiculed the media portrayal of his visits to President Obama as 'secret', joking the commander in chief basically told him he was an 'a**hole'

Stewart: Obama wanted to know why I'm 'such an a**hole'

He quipped: 'It wasn't really that big of a deal. I was brought through the secret White House entrance at Mount Rushmore,' adding that Elvis Presley, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and an 'alien from Area 51' were all present.

Stewart joked that the president wasn't the first notable figure to request a meeting - all of whom had essentially the same agenda.

He said: 'I have been summoned by a surprisingly wide variety of individuals over the years, from tech giants to financial captains to Billy Joel.

'The general thrust of all these meetings or phone conversations has are the same - basically, John, why are you such an a**hole?

'I think it was true of the meeting with the president and it has been true of the meetings with all those people.'

Stewart ridiculed suggestions the meetings were secret, saying they were 'openly listed' and he went through the White House entrance 'like everybody else'.

Stewart with Obama on the president's seventh and most recent appearance on the Daily Show. Obama told him: 'I'm issuing a new executive order that Jon Stewart cannot leave the show'

The comic added: 'We spent about five to seven minutes with Obama kind of scolding me not to turn young Americans cynical and I spent about five to seven minutes explaining to him I'm actually skeptically idealistic'.

The first of the visits, reported by Politico, took place in the midst of a budget battle in 2011. He reportedly told one of the escorts he felt like he was being called into the principal's office.

In February 2014, Obama asked Stewart to fly from New York to Washington D.C. before he went on TV to tell Russia 'there will be costs' if it made any further military intervention in the Ukraine.

Stewart mocked claims he and the president somehow coordinated on his agenda after the host slammed Putin for the 'naked aggression' of a movement of Russian troops to the border with Ukraine at the time of Obama's interview.

He said on Wednesday's show: 'So you believe that as Russian troops gathered at the border of Ukraine, Obama summoned me just in case he needed help turning young Americans against Putin.'

On July 21, Obama made his seventh and final appearance on the show, and told Stewart: 'I can't believe you're leaving before me.

Obama issues new executive order to keep Jon Stewart

'In fact, I'm issuing a new executive order that Jon Stewart cannot leave the show.'

Stewart has become a staunch voice in American politics and is widely-regarded by some politicians as someone who should not be ignored.

He has an average nightly audience of around 1.3million, and is able to reach the sought-after 18-35 demographic.

Dave Axelrod, a regular guest on the show and a top Obama aide, said Stewart was a 'useful prod' for the administration.

He told Politico: 'I can’t say that because Jon Stewart was unhappy policy changed. But I can say that he had forceful arguments, they were arguments that we knew would be heard and deserved to be answered.'

Stewart will be replaced by Trevor Noah, 31, who instantly became the center of a debate over his questionable jokes on social media.

Noah has been accused of antisemitism for comments made about Jews in tweets dating back to 2009.

But Stewart urged viewers to give the South African comedian a chance, saying he was 'an incredibly thoughtful and considerate and funny and smart individual' who would earn viewers' respect.