Cramer Fuming Over 'Daily Show' Fight

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(April 15) - It's hard to say which is more uncomfortable, Jim Cramer's original appearance on 'The Daily Show,' as Jon Stewart attacked the host of 'Mad Money' with such ferocity that even loyal Stewart fans averted their eyes... or Jim Cramer's continued attempts to defend himself in the press.

During the original interview, the comedian remarked, "I can't reconcile the brilliance and knowledge that you have of the intricacies of the market with the crazy ... I see you do every night," and "I understand that you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a ... game."

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Cramer, at the time, was conciliatory and self-effacing, calling CNBC "fair game" for criticism and admitting, "Should we have been constantly pointing out the mistakes that were made? Absolutely. I truly wish we had done more."

After the interview, Cramer slammed back repeatedly, first on the MSNBC program 'Morning Joe' and later on 'The Today Show,' calling Stewart's interview strategy "naive and misleading." Now the hedge fund expert has offered his thoughts to an Ohio State University paper.

Cramer tells 'The Lantern' that his 'Daily Show' interview was an "ambush." He says, "He told my staff that it was going to be fun, convivial, no clips, but [it] doesn't matter, he's a comedian, he can do whatever he wants."

Clips are part of the standard format of 'The Daily Show,' and that segment featured video of Cramer discussing ambiguously ethical financial market techniques. Cramer told the paper "you can pick any single clip to make people fib," but added that Stewart failed to show footage of Cramer making better calls. "It was a 20 minute interview, he picked the worst eight minutes to make me look as horrible as possible."

"Was it a fair fight? No, it wasn't even a fight," Cramer adds. "I came on with the idea of taking a high road approach and discussing the issues, obviously [Stewart] came on strictly to try to humiliate me. It was brutal. Was he stand-up? Absolutely not. Did he comport himself as a gentleman? Hardly. It was a deposition; he wants to be a prosecutor."

While Cramer says he was "eviscerated" in the 'Daily Show' appearance, his ratings have never been better. "I've got more people watching me than ever before, and I handled myself like a gentleman, and I took the high road," Cramer says. "I only know that road."

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2009-04-15 11:52:48

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