You remember the story, don’t you? On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart did a segment showing how thoroughly inept CNBC had been in the build up to the big recession. The segment was very funny and painfully true, which led to it getting a lot of play. One small piece of the segment dealt with Jim Cramer, who bombastically assured his viewers that Bear Sterns was fine just days before it collapsed completely.
Cramer then decided that this was all about him and started trash-talking Stewart in various media outlets. Initially he also tried to deny some of his earlier statements, but Stewart gleefully nailed him.
This led to Cramer appearing on Stewart’s show. The result?
Stewart humiliated him.
Cramer has been licking his wounds ever since. And browsing through this Q and A with Time magazine suggests that he is still not over it.
Do you regret going on The Daily Show in the first place? –John Puterbaugh, Dekalb, Ill.
No one wants to suffer a beat-down. No one wants to be humiliated or embarrassed. I was shocked at [host Jon Stewart's] behavior. I wish he knew about my background, and I wish he knew about a lot of things that I had done, because I think he would’ve thanked me instead of attacked me.
You seemed to take Stewart’s criticism personally, but he was really making a larger point about the failures of CNBC and other financial outlets. Do you think CNBC did a good job anticipating and reporting on the financial meltdown? –Mark Sutter, Detroit
I think CNBC’s done a remarkable job, and I think the attack on CNBC and the attacks on me were gravely misplaced. It was rather remarkable in that it was so clear that his goal was to just destroy me. One day he’ll answer for it.
Poor guy. That last line is a bit ominous.
Actually, the rest of the Q and A has some interesting moments as well. Go have a look!