He rolled his eyes. He cracked a joke. He scoffed like he always does. But somewhere between the red tape, the funding delays, and the bureaucratic rabbit holes, Jon Stewart did something no one expected—he stopped laughing. Because for the first time, the legendary satirist found himself nodding in agreement with someone he’d long been skeptical of: Elon Musk.
What started as a typical critique of America’s tangled broadband expansion effort quickly turned into a moment of stunned silence for Stewart. In a video that’s now going viral, the comedian-turned-commentator is visibly taken aback when he finally admits—Elon Musk is right about government inefficiency. And not just kind-of-right. Painfully, undeniably, devastatingly right.
At first, Stewart did what Stewart does best—he mocked the ridiculousness of a federal process that requires states to jump through flaming hoops just to access broadband funds. $5 million planning grants? Sounds great—until you realize the states must first write letters of intent, file intricate five-year plans, and pray the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) approves their paperwork before the end of the decade.
Only 3 of 56 Made It Through. Yes, Really.
The numbers were supposed to impress. Instead, they embarrassed everyone watching.
Out of 56 jurisdictions, only 3 have made it to the final proposal stage. That’s not a small hiccup—it’s a complete system failure. And when Stewart heard the full timeline, from FCC mapping to NTIA approvals to competitive subgranting, even he couldn’t believe how slow and wasteful the system had become.
