Jon Stewart mocks the NYT for putting petty ‘inconsequential gossip’ on the front page instead of real news

Daily Show host Jon Stewart chided the New York Times on Wednesday for trying to paint Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as a victim of "financial blunders" with a report featuring parking tickets and a fishing boat.

"How is this front page news?" Stewart asked. "I can't think of a single person who would be bothered by this."

The newspaper reported on Tuesday that Rubio used the $800,000 he got for writing his autobiography to pay off $100,000 in college loans, as well as buy an $80,000 boat. The story also noted that Rubio's wife, Jeanette, had amassed 13 of the couple's 17 traffic tickets.

"In private conversations, Mr. Rubio has told friends that he learned how to manage money through trial and error," the story stated. "His poor, immigrant parents — his father a bartender, his mother a hotel maid — had little money to manage, he told them."

But Stewart called the story "inconsequential gossip," ridiculing the Times' mid-Atlantic bureau chief, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, for calling it "part of the game."

"It's the game, it's a f*cking game," Stewart repeated, sarcastically. "What's the New York Times gonna do, exercise editorial control? No. It's like their motto says, 'Don't hate the paper, hate the game.'"

The Times also reported that Rubio's expenditures were "flagged" by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney during Romney's 2012 presidential run. Romney ultimately selected Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his running mate.

"I don't know that Mitt Romney's the guy to vet people on responsible spending," Stewart said. "$80,000 on a boat slightly pales in comparison to spending $52 million on a losing pipe dream. At least Rubio's got a boat to show for it."

Watch Stewart's commentary, as posted online on Wednesday, below.