Jon Stewart Delivers Joke-Free Speech on South Carolina Church Shooting

The horrific attack in Charleston, South Carolina, that left 9 members of a historic black church dead has "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart at a loss for humor.

In last night's episode, Stewart approached the subject in a way he reserves for only the worst tragedies: without any jokes. Rather than use humor to highlight the hypocrisy of the way the media has covered the story, Stewart simply delivered a somber rant about the media and the topic as a whole.

"I didn’t do my job today," Stewart said to open the segment. "I’ve got nothing for you in terms of jokes and sounds, because of what happened in South Carolina."

Stewart railed against the way the media is calling the shooting anything other than what it is: a race-fueled terrorist attack. "This wasn’t a tornado," Stewart said in response to news outlets calling the shooting a "tragedy." "This was a racist. This was a guy with a Rhodesia badge on his sweater... I hate to even use this pun, but this one is black and white. There’s no nuance here."

He also took the state of South Carolina to task for their reverence for the Confederacy. "Nine people were shot in a black church by a white guy who hated them who wanted to start some sort of civil war," Stewart said. "The confederate flag flies over South Carolina. And the roads are named for confederate generals. And the white guy is the one who feels like his country is being taken away from him. We’re bringing it on ourselves. And that’s the thing—al Qaeda, ISIS, they’re not shit compared to the damage we can do to ourselves on a regular basis."

Watch the powerful video below: