Political satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert asked for the return of sanity to American politics during a rally Saturday in Washington, DC.
USA Today reported that Comedy Central predicted the rally held on the national mall would draw about 60,000 people. An estimate commissioned by CBS News reported that 215,000 were in attendance.
Stewart and Colbert, comedians most famous for their mock-news programs on Comedy Central, said their rally was to "promote civility in political dialogue and ease the shrill tone that has dominated this fall's races."
The New York Times reported that it was a "rally to shift blame" onto the media. Stewart called out 24-hour news coverage for holding "its magnifying glass up to our problems bringing them into focus
A Washington area radio station reported that the rally helped set a record for Metrorail transit passengers. 825,437 Metrorail trips were taken on Saturday. The record was previously set during the 1991 Desert Storm rally when 786,358 trips were taken.
