Embattled Congressman Anthony Weiner Defended by Jon Stewart (Video)

Jon Stewart came to the defense of his old pal Anthony Weiner Tuesday night on The Daily Show. Weiner, a New York Congressman, is under fire for allegedly tweeting a picture of his bulging underwear to an undergrad late last week.

Weiner has evaded questions of whether the photo is of him but he has denied sending out the photo, telling CBS News, "I did not. This was a prank, a hoax." He also called CNN producer Ted Barrett a "jackass" for pressing the issue during a press conference.

The scandal, dubbed "Weinergate," is prime fodder for a program like The Daily Show but Stewart was on the fence about covering it. He described the pros and cons of covering the story, "Here's my dilemma: We are looking at story about a snapshot that appears to be an ample helping of penis allegedly posted by a congressman whose name is a synonym for penis." 

The cons of this story is: This is my friend Anthony. This guy's a friend of mine. As a comedian this is a slam dunk, Weiner name, weiner picture. But as friend, I really hope that this story is not true."

Despite his misgivings about his personal connection to the Congressman, Stewart showed the picture of the crotch shot and joked, "The only thing that Anthony Weiner and this gentleman here appear to have in common is that they both lean hard to the extreme left.

In real life, my memory, is that this cat had a lot more Anthony and a lot less Weiner. This is not what I remember."