WASHINGTON — It was a rant worthy of actor Peter Finch's famous "I'm as mad as hell" outburst in the movie Network.
Standing in the pits at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CNBC correspondent Rick Santelli openly mocked "the losers" who can't pay their mortgages and exhorted traders around him to dump on U.S. President Barack Obama's homeowner rescue plan.
It might have ended there. But the theatrics proved too much for late-night comedian Jon Stewart of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, who mocked the ubiquitous cable business network with a clever montage of wildly off-base predictions by some of its leading stars, including high-strung stock picker Jim Cramer.
"If I had only followed CNBC's advice, I'd have a million dollars today," Mr. Stewart deadpanned last week, "provided I'd started with $100-million."
In what is being dubbed the "Anchor War," Mr. Stewart and Mr. Cramer have been going at each other almost daily on their respective networks. And tonight, the two will square off on The Daily Show in what promises to be must-watch late-night TV.
"Two men will enter! Only two men will leave!" previewed the Comedy Central network, which airs the popular satire.
The sometimes nasty and often hilarious feud, dubbed Cramer vs. Not Cramer by The Daily Show, has dredged up long-standing criticism of CNBC, including allegations of excessive cheerleading in good times, scaremongering on the way down, uncritical interviewing of business leaders and the theatrics of its star performers, such as Mr. Cramer, host of Mad Money.
With the stock market in the tank, the blame game has become increasingly political, too. An outspoken critic of the Obama administration, Mr. Cramer has even attracted the ire of White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
"You can go back and look at any number of statements he's made in the past about the economy and wonder where some of the backup for those are," Mr. Gibbs said.
CNBC spokesman Brian Steel vigorously defended the network's record, pointing out that it typically does 850 interviews a week, from every point of view imaginable.
"Our viewers like a point of view and we do commentary from both sides of every issue," he said, adding, nonetheless, that the network is "unabashedly a pro-capitalist, pro-business network."
He would not comment on which side initiated tonight's appearance on The Daily Show.
All kidding aside, CNBC is serious business. It's the undisputed king of U.S. business news in a crowded cable field. The network is a fixture on trading floors and brokerage offices. When chief executives, politicians and other key decision makers have something to say, they typically go to CNBC first. And the rest of the business crowd, including fund managers and analysts, crave its limelight.
In the other corner is Mr. Stewart, the edgiest of the late-night comics, with a sharp satirist's eye for news and a loyal following among educated young viewers.
His half-hour show, which typically draws four times as many viewers as CNBC's top rated shows, apparently boasts influence of its own. In 2004, Mr. Stewart, a frequent critic of news-as-entertainment, attacked CNN shows such as Crossfire as shout-fests that distort the news. Within months, Crossfire was gone.
So when Mr. Stewart lambasted Mr. Cramer for supposedly touting the merits of investment banks Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers not long before they crashed, the former hedge fund manager went on the attack.
In appearances on various NBC news shows, Mr. Cramer accused Mr. Stewart of perpetuating an "urban legend" that he recommended Bear Stearns and accused the show of taking his recommendations out of context. And he portrayed himself as a defender of small investors.
Mr. Stewart was back at it on Tuesday night, poking fun at Mr. Cramer and CNBC parent NBC by using other Viacom properties (Viacom owns Comedy Central) - appearing to talk about his situation on shows from Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer to MTV's The Hills.
And Mr. Stewart took a swipe at CNBC for promoting their star as if he was the god of stock-picking with its "In Cramer We Trust" ads.
"I don't know about the markets. That's why I don't make claim to any authority," Mr. Stewart told his audience. "Now, of course, I probably wouldn't have a problem with CNBC if Cramer's slogan was 'Cramer: He's Right Sometimes' or 'He's Like a Dartboard That Talks' or 'You Feel Lucky, Punk? Do You?' "
Then, he showed several clips of Mr. Cramer touting Bear Stearns.
"Jim Cramer, you said it here. Buy Bear. [Expletive] you," Mr. Stewart said.
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