'Daily Show' Rips on Mitt Romney Secret Tapes and 47 Percent Comments (Video)

Comedy Central

Salman Rushdie was The Daily Show's scheduled guest on Tuesday, there to speak about the violent riots in the Middle East that have raged over the past week. But by the time the curtain raised on the Comedy Central centerpiece's afternoon taping, the news of Mitt Romney's devastating comments at a May fundraiser was already nearly a day old and host Jon Stewart  was ready to bring the hammer down on the Republican candidate for president.

our editor recommends

Larry David Narrates 'Daily Show' Obama Bio Film, 'It Could Have Been Worse' (Video)

Bill O'Reilly to Debate Jon Stewart in Live Event Streamed Online (Video)

The tapes of a private, $50,000-a-plate gathering, at which Romney dismissed 47 percent of the nation as non-tax paying citizens unlikely to vote for him, have generated plenty of outrage thus far, and Stewart was far from immune from the anger bug. Much of the show was dedicated to dissecting and ripping apart the long talk Romney gave, which Stewart said was , "In a manner you might imagine cartoon rich people talk about cartoon poor people."

VIDEO: Obama on Letterman: The President Represents the Whole Country

Delving into the statistics of the 47 percent that don't pay federal income tax, the host added some nuance, noting that many of those people pay other taxes, such as payroll tax. Many others, he said, are senior citizens.

"Mr. Romney knows them as personal responsibility-shirking unconvinceables," Stewart fired, adding, "you may know them as the Greatest Generation, and/or Nana."

The hits kept coming, as the host then trotted out a video of Romney's own mother describing early struggles that were softened by public assistance.

STORY: Keith Olbermann Offers 'Special' Special Comment Over Romney Tapes

"George Romney was on welfare, so according to Mitt Romney's own logic," Stewart said, "Mitt Romney could not win the vote of his own dad."

Returning from the commercial break, Stewart then tackled Romney's late Monday apology, not-so-subtly likening it to the captain's speech on a sinking Titanic.

The show wasn't finished taking down the former Massachusetts governor. Correspondents Al Madrigal and Jessica Williams batted around the candidate's joke that he would have a better chance of winning the election if he was of Mexican heritage; and John Hodgman lampooned Romney's wealthy background in a special web video.