Jon Stewart nails the complete confusion many of us first felt about Rachel Dolezal

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart reaction to the Rachel Dolezal story could be summarized in one word: "Whaaaaaaaat?!"

Dolezal claimed to be a black woman as she headed the Spokane branch of the NAACP, but her parents claimed last week that she's a white woman, saying she's of Czech, Swedish, and German origin. "What? Czech, Swedish, and German is really fucking white," Stewart joked.

Comedy Central

But Dolezal presented herself as black for nearly 10 years. "So this woman took this lie very far. And at this point, you got to wonder, does she even know if she's lying anymore?" Stewart said, pointing to the infamous local TV news interview  in which she was first asked if she's African-American.

"Are you African-American?" the KXLY reporter asked in the video. Dolezal looked around nervously, then said, "I don't understand the question."

The Daily Show/Comedy Central

"So her mouth says, 'I don't understand the question,'" Stewart said. "But her eyes say, 'Fuuuuuuuuuck. I'm busted.'"

Since that interview, Dolezal has resigned from the NAACP.

Dolezal said she identifies as black

Dolezal told Today's Matt Lauer on Tuesday that she always expected at one point she would need to come forward and "address the complexity of my identity." Asked if she's an African-American woman, Dolezal responded, "I identify as black."

Dolezal insisted she never meant to deceive anyone. She said media outlets began identifying her as black, and she never bothered to correct them. "I've had to answer a lot of questions throughout my life," she said.

"This is not some freak, Birth of a Nation, mockery blackface performance," Dolezal explained. "This is on a very real, connected level how I've actually had to go there with the experience — not just a visible representation, but experience."

Watch: Why the Daily Show had to change

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via