Jon Stewart says America has 'become so dysfunctional' that it's finally starting to hurt people

Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart appeared on "The View" to promote his new movie but the conversation quickly turned to President Donald Trump and the problems facing the country.

After an endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden because he has "empathy," Stewart went off about the irrational ways in which Trump has divided Americans between those who wear masks and those who don't.

"There has been an increased campaign to discredit expertise or to tribalize or to politicize expertise. You know, there's a whole under-current that this whole pandemic is a hoax or a power-grab," said Stewart. "You know, living in the northeast, we don't realize, this is real, and it's brutal. The idea that wearing a mask is somehow government overreach, I would just say, have you been in operating rooms? Surgeons wear masks, not because they listen to NPR and drive Volvos. They wear masks because that's more sanitary."

He went on to tell people who are refusing to wear masks that they should apply that thinking to its logical conclusion and refuse to work with doctors who wear masks.

"The next time you get an operation, just tell the surgeon, 'You take that mask off and you don't wash your hands because that's for liberals, and I want you coughing into my open wounds for America,'" said Stewart. "It just -- and honestly -- we're so dysfunctional. It's beyond maddening how -- this is a time where leadership is so crucial. People are truly suffering. Not just for the illness, but economically, and you need leadership that has the humility to know that we are facing something we haven't faced, who doesn't think they have all the answers. And this isn't just about re-election politics. This is a strategy on their part because they believe the more fear they gin up, the better chance they have to get elected. It's cynical. It's so cynical, and it's going to hurt people."

Watch Stewart's comments below: