This may be challenging to consider at a time when clipped-out segments have become the primary delivery system for headlines, information and ideas — but let’s remember that context is key.

Consider the immediate media reaction to Jon Stewart’s opener on the Oct. 28 episode of “The Daily Show” where, if one were to judge from an array of headlines, the respected host and comic “defended” — quotes intentional — Tony Hinchcliffe.

You know, the roast comic who appeared at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden nouveau Bund rally and called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”

Hinchcliffe also made jokes about “carving a watermelon” with a Black buddy, and said Latinos “love making babies”: “There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country.” But the garbage clunker received the lion’s share of attention due to the outcry from Puerto Rican voters in swing states.

“In retrospect, having a roast comedian come to a political rally a week before Election Day and roasting a key voting demographic, probably not the best decision by the campaign politically,” Stewart landed on as his response to these "jokes," adding, “But, to be fair, the guy’s really just doing what he does!”

At this, he tossed to a clip from Netflix’s Tom Brady roast special from May, where Hinchcliffe said of fellow comedian Jeff Ross, “Jeff is so Jewish he only watches football for the coin toss.” He told Rob Gronkowski, Brady's former NFL teammate, that he looked like “the Nazi that kept burning himself on the oven,” and said host Kevin Hart is so small “that when his ancestors picked cotton they called it deadlifting.”

Cutting back to Stewart, we see him sarcastically react with, “Yes, yes, of course, terrible. Boo!” before breaking into giggles. “There’s something wrong with me. I find that guy very funny! So I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you."

Related

Comedy can be a terrific free speech stress test. If you doubt that, ask any comic, especially the ones who, like Jerry Seinfeld, blame “the extreme left and P.C. crap” for killing comedy, which is so dead and buried that streaming services are paying comics millions to feature their stand-up routines. Seinfeld eventually walked back that comment, but he’s not the only one to blame political correctness for the death of a good time.

Often lost when comics decry pushback from offended constituencies is any consideration of accompanying factors such as the effect their jokes have on their fans, and consequences. That second word is tricky since, to stars whose missteps come back to haunt them, consequence is coded language for "cancellation." It can translate to terminated deals, lost income, and a reputational plummet. It can also lead to lucrative deals for stand-up specials and sold-out arena shows.

Comedy can be a terrific free speech stress test. If you doubt that,........

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