Obama Says Goodbye to Stewart's Daily Show

Jon Stewart only has a couple of weeks left as host of the Daily Show, but in an appearance last night, it was President Obama who was doing most of the looking back, with Stewart taking his last opportunity to press Obama on his record in office and on issues like Department of Veterans Affairs reform. Some highlights from what the Hollywood Reporter notes was Obama's third Daily Show appearance as president and seventh overall:

• On Stewart leaving the show: "I can't believe you're leaving before me," Obama said. "In fact, I'm going to issue an executive order: Jon Stewart cannot leave the show. It's being challenged in the courts."

• On achieving his goals as president: "You're always going to fall short, because if you're hitting your marks, that means you didn't set them high enough," Obama said. "We don't score a touchdown every time, but we move the ball forward."
• On recent successes: "I know what I'm doing," Obama told Stewart. "A lot of the work that we did early starts bearing fruit late. The way I'm feeling right now is, I've got 18 months."
• On VA reform: "People work hard in the VA. But if you have a government that was built on 1930 models and it's not updated for decades, there will be a gap in terms of what it is doing now relative to what other folks do."
• On the Middle East and the Iran deal: His critics seem to think that "if you had brought Dick Cheney to the negotiations, everything would be fine," Obama quipped.
• On Donald Trump: Asked if he had any advice for "future President Trump," Obama said, "I am sure the Republicans are enjoying Mr. Trump's current dominance." Stewart added, "Anything that makes them look less crazy."

(More Jon Stewart stories.)