Jon Stewart’s announcement that he will be leaving The Daily Show later this year after 16 years as its anchor was met with a great deal of nostalgia for his unique take on the news. Stewart specializes in delivering the news with a light-edged mockery, and his sharply funny style has revolutionized the way satirical news shows operate, with spin-offs like the Colbert Report and, more recently, Last Week Tonight finding lots of success on the national stage.

In my opinion, “Stewart revolutionized political satire” would be the understatement of the century. He acknowledges no religious or international boundaries and exercises his right to free speech without reservation, as all brave newsmen and satirists should. He also conducted some of the most simultaneously brave, hysterical and revealing interviews on-air, including notable shellackings of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi regarding money’s role in politics and 2016 Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee about religion and a willingness to arm the American public.

I am a vocal proponent of the freedom to mock and the ability to make jokes with no boundaries. Stewart has executed this flawlessly while gaining profound respect from prominent political figures for his hard-pressed efforts to squeeze out the truth, no matter how much it makes people squirm.

Stewart will be leaving behind a legacy at The Daily Show unlike any other. His ability to stand up for the oppressed and the systematically marginalized has gained him an enormous following among Americans of all walks of life, and even abroad. He has succeeded in inspiring people on all levels of government and on every level of the social scale, and as a spokesperson for the liberal American, his 11 PM slot on Comedy Central Monday-Friday will be damn near impossible to replace.