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# Watch Jon Stewart Compare Scotland's Nicola Sturgeon to Saddam Hussein

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/n9mhTr2V.m3u8" -->
## Video: Nicola Sturgeon Laughs Off Saddam Hussein Comparison

[Watch (HLS stream): Nicola Sturgeon Laughs Off Saddam Hussein Comparison](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/n9mhTr2V.m3u8) (1:31)

![Nicola Sturgeon Laughs Off Saddam Hussein Comparison](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/n9mhTr2V/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2015-06-09. Guests on_


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Olivia B. Waxman


Staff Writer

Jun 9, 2015 3:07 PM UTC

![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Olivia B. Waxman


Staff Writer

Jun 9, 2015 3:07 PM UTC

On _The Daily Show_ Monday night, host Jon Stewart started off his interview with the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon by explaining that her political party, the Scottish National Party, had won an “unprecedented” 56 of 59 seats in the general election.

The politician, whom the show erroneously billed as a “comedian” prior to the appearance, quipped that she had ordered an inquiry into why she didn’t win the other three — to which Stewart shot back, “What, you think you’re Saddam Hussein? You get 99%?”

In response to his joke, Sturgeon amiably said, “I always think you should aim for more.”

### See Jon Stewart's Career Over the Years

![THE DAILY SHOW, 1996-present, Jon Stewart 1999-present](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9d931c1bb512033/69877e960b72e3161b6dd9cb/jon-stewart-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jon Stewart takes the reins as anchor of The Daily Show in 1999. Comedy Central/Everett

![Stewart gets a cameo as Kevin Gerrity in the 1999 Adam Sandler movie <i>Big Daddy</i>.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ab3c6a9ce2caaad/69877e97a988ca0a5a6ac658/jon-stewart-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Stewart gets a cameo as Kevin Gerrity in the 1999 Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy. Columbia

![The Tonight Show with Jay Leno - Season 9](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0e4a71e909ff538/69877e983c16392c3c451b04/jon-stewart-09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jay Leno interviews Jon Stewart on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in 2000. NBC/Getty Images


![MCDDETO EC011](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt101845572153c229/69877e97e53aba053c4d7833/jon-stewart-19.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Stewart plays Marion Frank Stokes in the 2002 black comedy Death to Smoochy Warner Bros.

![55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Press Room](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ebb0f70f0cbc0bd/69877e9806f2c1dd28333e6c/jon-stewart-10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jon Stewart and his team win the first of many Emmys for The Daily Show in 2003. Chris Weeks—FilmMagic/Getty Images

![The 78th Annual Academy Awards - Jon Stewart Portraits](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb13abde2ad2fe3bb/69877e96f887dc2e14e8a09c/jon-stewart-14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jon Stewart hosts the 78th Academy Awards in 2006. Academy of Motion Picture Arts—WireImage/Getty Images


![Stewart has a cameo as himself on <i>The Simpsons</i> in 2008 in the episode "E Pluribus Wiggum."](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9501ba65429e4247/69877e9635ba6fb5d2c07000/jon-stewart-13.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Stewart has a cameo as himself on The Simpsons in 2008 in the episode "E Pluribus Wiggum." Fox

![Jon Stewart And Stephen Colbert Hold Rally On National Mall](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7bc261d6c5a6ea15/69877e993c1639e291451b0a/jon-stewart-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart host the Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear on the National Mall on Oct. 30, 2010 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee—Getty Images

![US President Barack Obama \(L\) tapes an i](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcbafc61671d96131/69877e9535ba6f6b9ac06ffc/jon-stewart-15.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jon Stewart interviews President Barack Obama on The Daily Show at the Harman Center for the Arts in Washington, DC, Oct. 26, 2010. Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images


![51st USO Armed Forces Gala &amp; Gold Medal Dinner - Inside](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda8ed7667dcaeae7/69877e950b72e305346dd9c6/jon-stewart-16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jon Stewart speaks at the 51st USO Armed Forces Gala & Gold Medal Dinner on Dec. 13, 2012 in New York City. Michael Loccisano—Getty Images

![ROSEWATER, front, from left: Gael Garcia Bernal, Jon Stewart, on set, 2014. ©Open Road](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03e17a641593f92f/69877e95e20a8772fca85084/jon-stewart-17.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Stewart makes his directorial debut in the 2014 drama Rosewater. Open Road Films

![Jon Stewart announces his retirement for the end of 2015.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2a72076a8f3665f/69877e943c16390ae4451aff/jon-stewart-18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jon Stewart announces his retirement for the end of 2015. Comedy Central


## Transcript

Nicola Sturgeon, the current First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party, chatted with John Stewart on The Daily Show Monday night and things got a little, well, dictatory. First of all, the SNP won, I don't know, 56 of 59 seats in parliament. It was unprecedented. Swept away into- I've ordered an inquiry into how come we didn't win the other three. Those other three. Yes, and so Putin think directly- What, do you think for Saddam Hussein you get 99 %? [ LAUGH ] 56 out of 59 is pretty good. Well, I always think you should always aim for more Surgeon was a good sport after being compared to the lady Iraqi dictator, laughing the comment off.

Stewart's comment came likely in reference to Saddam's pension for rigging elections to give himself 99 % of the vote. Obviously, there are plenty of differences between the two. For starters, there's the signature mustache Saddam was always sporting, something quite lacking on Sturgeon. Regardless of the Saddam references, the rest of the interview went off without a hitch. Was Stewart joking around with Sturgeon while she's in the states on a four day trip across the pond? A spokesman for the Scottish government told the Telegraph, Sturgeon is in the US to undertake a series of business and government meetings that will promote Scotland as an attractive place Place to live, visit, study and invest.

Sterns became the face of Scottish politics after a predecessor Alex Solomon resigned when a referendum for an independent Scotland failed to pass in September. Since then she's helped to propel her party in even more popularity grabbing, as mentioned before, all but three of Scotland's parliamentary seats.

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