Watch Jon Stewart Tear Apart France’s Free Speech Hypocrisy

Impact

"France, I feel your au bon pain."

On Wednesday's Daily Show, Jon Stewart tackled France's free-speech balancing act following last week's attacks in Paris with the arrest Wednesday of controversial anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala for sympathizing with one of the gunmen on Facebook.

"Arresting someone for saying something days after a rally supporting the right of free expression," Stewart said. "It's a little weird!"

Stewart acknowledges Dieudonné has a controversial act — which includes, among other things, denying the Holocaust happened  — and the insensitivity in his bizarre "I feel like Charlie Coulibaly" Facebook jab. But it places France in quite the quandary of celebrating the freedom of speech embodied by Charlie Hebdo while simultaneously stamping it out elsewhere.

"It's difficult for any country to reconcile the idea of absolute defense of freedom with expression with arresting people for their albeit indefensible Facebook posts and speech," Stewart said.

"Don't get me wrong! That is a despicable Facebook post that guy did, but isn't that what the unfriend button is for?" Stewart asked. "This sucks. Je suis confused."