I'll have anice cold take and say that someone (largely) apolitical like Mulaney is exactly what they need for the Daily Show.

Political satire really only works if you're willing to approach both sides. One-sided satire generally doesn't work because the politics gets in the way of the humor. This has been apparent since 2016, when most comedians are absolutely terrified of saying anything about "their side" because any criticism of Democrats/liberals/progressives is seen as inherently helping the other side.

Right now if you hear any joke about Democrats, it's about Biden's age, and...that's about it. They're scared to do much else. (Props to SNL Weekend Update, which is about the only outlet that seems to get it right.)

All this does is give the humor the patina of ideological exclusion. It's no longer comedy, it's an op-ed for a leftist magazine with occasional jokes. And maybe some people want that, but it's rarely good satire.

Stewart's advantage was that while he was obviously liberal, he understood all that. Up until maybe the last year or so of the Obama admin he drew a pretty good balance of making fun of everyone, making fun of institutions, and when he did get truly outraged it was precise and selective.

That's one of the issues I had with people like Noah, Oliver, and Minhaj. I'm not amused by their jokes, I'm annoyed that I can point at the screen and say "That's factually incorrect!" Like, not exaggerate for comedic effect, but outright partisan hackery. You're lying to make a joke, but then wanting to be treated as a serious news person/opinion-haver until someone calls you out then you duck and say "I'm just a yuk-yuk comedian!" It's so disingenuous.

Someone like Mulaney--not Mulaney at this point, but someone like him--would be perfect to revitalize the show. Having about a degree or two of detachment from passion might do it some good.