Left-wing comedian Trevor Noah still found a way to blast Pope Francis on Monday's Daily Show as he gave mild praise to the pontiff over his latest tip of the hat to the homosexual community. The Comedy Central host mocked the Pope's remarks: "The Pope says the Church and all Christians should apologize to gay people...My question is, how?..it's not like Hallmark makes 'Sorry, I oppressed you for centuries' cards. It's like, 'Roses are red, violets are blue, sorry we said that Jesus hates you.'"
Noah later dropped an obscenity during his monologue: "It almost seems like the higher up the Pope goes, the more progressive he becomes. We got to send that mother-f***er into space just to see how liberal he can get!" [video below]
The anchor led his opening monologue with "big pride month news from the Pope." After playing a clip from news brief about Pope Francis's remarks, Noah mangled the comment, which was specifically about homosexuals, and claimed the Bishop of Rome said it about "gay people and every single minority group they've ever oppressed." He continued with his anti-Catholic Hallmark card snark.
Noah also pointed out a past "pro-gay bombshell" from the pontiff and quipped, "You know, if ever there was evidence that this man is truly in touch with the divine is the fact that he says fantastic things on a flight. The Pope is the only person who seems to get more relaxed in an airplane." He used a vaguely foreign accent to imagine what Francis might say if he got caught in the middle seat in the economy class of an airliner. The comedian ended with his vulgar "mother-f***er" line.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue ripped Noah in a Tuesday press release: "This cannot stand as the 'new normal' at Comedy Central. Noah would never refer to President Obama this way, nor should he invoke such a vile obscenity to describe Pope Francis. Though Noah's remark was not made in a malicious tone, it clearly crossed the line. He should apologize to the Holy Father and to Catholics." (MRC president Brent Bozell is a member of the board of advisors for the Catholic League.)
The transcript of the relevant portion of Trevor Noah's monologue from Comedy Central's The Daily Show on June 27, 2016:
TREVOR NOAH: First, big pride month news from the Pope.
BETTY NGUYEN (from June 27, 2016 newscast on MSNBC): Pope Francis is making waves with another unscripted response. While flying home from Armenia, the pontiff said that Christians and the Roman Catholic Church should apologize to gay people for the way they have treated them.
NOAH: Damn! (audience laughs) Damn! The Pope says the Church and all Christians should apologize to gay people and every single minority group they've ever oppressed. My question is, how? (audience laughs) Well, I mean, it's not like Hallmark makes 'Sorry, I oppressed you for centuries' cards. (audience laughs) It's like, 'Roses are red, violets are blue, sorry we said that Jesus hates you.' (audience laughs) Where do you — how do you start?
I mean, this is so insane when you think about it. The Pope's flying home, and he just comes out with this. And this isn't the first time that the Pope dropped a pro-gay bombshell while he was on a plane — because, remember, three years ago, he said this.
MATT LAUER (from August 8, 2013 edition NBC's Today): The Pope, giving a press conference on the plane on the way back from Brazil — here's what he said: 'Who am I to judge a gay person of good will who seeks the Lord?'
NOAH: You know, if ever there was evidence that this man is truly in touch with the divine is the fact that he says fantastic things on a flight. (audience laughs) The Pope is the only person who seems to get more relaxed in an airplane. (audience laughs) He's just sitting there like, (in vaguely foreign accent) 'The middle seat — the Lord works in mysterious ways. (audience laughs) Please, share my armrest. These peanuts I will give to the poor people in economy class.' (audience laughs) It's crazy. It almost seems like the higher up the Pope goes, the more progressive he becomes. We got to send that mother-(expletive deleted) into space just to see how liberal he can get! (audience cheers and applause). We've got to do that! But let's move on now.
